As The World Falls Down
by ScarletDrake
Summary: Robins night started out amazing, but it all went down hill and fast on his way home. Gotham is in a crime frenzy, he finds a kid who has just witnessed his parents death, he meets a girl, and gets shot twice in one night. What else could possibly happen?
1. Good night Gone bad

Hello All,

I welcome you and blah blah blah. If you dont already know, I am already working on a story, but i love you guys so much, I'm putting this out too. Its been playing in my head over and over and over and over, etc again, I just couldn't live with the pain anymore so I...published it! We all know (or if not, you do now) im a super hero fanatic and I love Robin...and Kid Flash...and Starfire...and...well everyone, so my initial instincts told me to publish this..so yeah...here it is.

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A cocky laugh could be heard over all the gunshots and yelling. No one, but 5, knew that that meant the fight was almost over. Acting on instinct, the 5 tired teens made their way to the outskirts of the warehouse. If Robin was going to come and kick butt, he was going to need plenty of room.

Everyone kept fighting, yet glancing at the youngest member when he came in, taking out at least 5 men at a time. He came, dodged, punched, and kicked, all in several fluid motions. It was like watching a bull come and throw its riders to the side carelessly.

Within minutes, the floor was littered with knocked out men and discarded weapons.

"We still need to go after Bane," Artemis said, her voice frantic and rushed.

Instead of moving though, Robin dusted his dirty hands on his pants and motioned up with his head. Following his motion, the team looked up only to find Bane tied up and hanging unconscious by his arms.

_So that's where he had disappeared to._

Everyone looked to Aqualad, who nodded his head, signaling the end of a mission. A completed, actually-gone-well, mission. With smiles on there faces they made their way out the door.

"Dude, that was sick!" Kid Flash said, hitting Robin on his shoulder.

Massaging his aching arm, Robin bumped Kid Flash back with his hip. It was a good night. No shots. No mishaps. And only a few minor bruises. Nothing a good, long, hot bath couldn't fix. Though it was Thursday and he had a ton of homework to complete, he couldn't wait to get home. Alfred would make his favorite, macaroni and cheese; Bruce would be home from work early; and the next day was Friday: young justice-spend-the-night-day.

Feeling in a good mood, he hoped on Kid Flash's back and held tight to his crazy red hair as the speedster ran around, pained by the force his head was pulled back by. The team watched, amused, as Robin jumped off Wally's back just before he steered Wally into the door of the bio-ship.

Rubbing his head, Wally playfully pushed Robin inside the bio-ship and jumped into one of the seats, its seat belts clicking itself.

Once the ship was in the air, Robin opened his holographic glove, calling an SOS to the nearest police so that they could come and pick of the left behind villains. Leaning back, Robin thought about all the things to look forwards to. Macaroni and cheese, Bruce being home, Alfred making cookies, a well gone mission, upcoming Friday, and a cave-sleepover. Even though they had only been a team for a few months, they were already a family and he looked forward to spending time with them.

Miss Martian was like the maternal older sister. Connor was a closed, but protective, older brother. Kaldur was the calm old brother and Artemis the sassy older sister. Of course Wally could switch between awesome best friend and retarded older brother as well. Robin had no problem seeing himself as a troublesome younger brother and a bit of a prankster.

He closed his eyes, smiling to himself as he heard Artemis and Wally argue over something juvenile and probably a waste of conversation. Those two fought more than anyone he knew, and yet it was _so_ entertaining to watch. Artemis had a tendency to get violent as well, doubling the amusement. Of course, Kaldur had to be the one to try and calm the two down and Miss Martian had to be the one to try and tell Kaldur that his attempts were futile.

It wasn't until a loud slap was heard that everyone started talking. Kaldur speaking of the unnecessary-ness. Artemis saying how much Wally deserved the hit. Wally complaining _about _the hit. Connor talking about how useless all of their fighting was. Miss Martian trying to defend the reason Artemis slapped Wally. And of course, Robin's own laugh about the whole situation.

It wasn't until a ringing sounded that the noise and talking actually stopped. Everyone looked around, the source of the noise unknown until Robin jumped with a 'oh'. He must of forgotten to turn his phone off before the mission. He was just glad it didn't go off while he was fighting or hiding earlier; it would have blown his whole cover. Searching his numerous pockets, he finally found his phone and pressed the talk button.

"Hello?" he asked, odded out by whoever was calling him at 3:34 in the morning.

"Robin."

He knew that voice and a few things flashed in Robin's mind. 1) Batman was probably either at the cave or coming in from his patrol. 2) Bruce didn't sound like he was in desperate need of rescuing, he actually sounded kind of sorry. 3) What did Batman have to tell him that couldn't wait until the morning or until they both got home? And 4) Why was he calling him on his cell phone?

"Oh, hey Batman." Robin said, knowing that all eyes in the bio-ship were on him. "Whats up."

"Well...uh, where are you?"

"Me?" Robin asked "Im the ship. The bio-ship," he laughed "Why, need a ride?"

Miss Martian slowed the the ship abruptly, causing everyone to snap forward and then backwards. The flock of birds she had almost hit flew by, totally unaware that they just escaped death. She blew out a breath, purposely ignoring the look Artemis was giving her.

She tried not to, but it was a such an odd interaction when Robin talked to Bruce. It was as if they were telepathic and could read each others minds. She couldn't help but listen in as Robin spoke on the phone.

"My night?" Robin said, sounding excited "It was awesome. Kicked butt and won and-"

Miss Martian waited for Robin to continue, but Batman must of cut him off.

"Is there a specific reason you called me at 3:30 in the morning, Batman?" he asked, a bit his voice full of anticipation for the answer Miss Martian couldn't hear.

"So, your going to Russia?" Robin asked, unsuccessfully hiding the disappointment in his voice, from both the team and Batman.

"For how long?" no one missed the sadness in Robin's voice. Miss Martian hadn't know Batman for very long and even if she did, she doubted she would know much more about him than she already did, but him and Robin had a special kind of relationship. It was odd; the stone cold crusader and the witty prankster little brother.

"How long, Batman?" he asked again, his voice urgent and upset sounding,"4 weeks," he said, his voice even sadder.

Miss Martian could feel his mood dropping. Just moments ago, she could feel his happiness; it had put her in a better mood, but now, she felt as if she wanted to cry.

"Yeah, yeah," Robin said, his voice suddenly bitter "See you in a month."

He closed his phone with a snap and no one mentioned a thing. That for one Robin was glad about. Everyone had heard everything and he suddenly didn't feel very cheerful and definitely didn't want to be pestered about how he felt about this.

Bruce had just gotten a call from the Russian Wayne corporation branch. It seemed that they were having trouble with some documents and contracts. They needed Bruce Wayne to go over, look them over, and finalize the papers so that they stay up to date with the other branches. Typical business matters, and yet, Robin was upset.

He had planned on going home and telling Bruce all about the awesome fight over the famous macaroni and cheese. He had wanted to tell Bruce all about the moves he used and how he had come in and finished the fight. And yet, all of that would have to wait until Bruce got back.

It was a complete irritation...no it was worse. It was a...a...ritation or something. Well no, if irritation was annoyance, than ritation was soothing/not annoying. So basically, Batman was just really iri-irtating right now. Since obviously the 'iri' in irritation meant the bad part of the word and Robin wanted a word that was double worse that irritation.

"You lost me at 'ritation'." came Wally's voice. Turning around, he saw that everyone had a odd faced mixture between complete bewilderment and confusion.

_Oops. _Robin hadn't meant to talk out loud. Shrugging his shoulders, he stood on the now parked bio-ship.

He walked into the cave only stopping in the kitchen to grab a water. The team said their goodbyes and good nights. Miss Martian and superboy headed to their rooms along with Aqualad and Artemis headed out on her own. Punching Wally in the arm, Robin headed out as well.

It really didn't take him long to type in the closest beta-tube to the manor. He made sure to erase the history of locations before stepping into the blinding yellow light.

Walking out of an abandoned train station bathroom stall, he stayed hidden in the shadows as he made his way up the stairs.

It was like looking into a vortex. Or portal. Or war painting.

It seemed as if Gotham was in a state of war. It was strange how Robin had left his safe haven cave and went into war zone Gotham. Buildings were on fire, gunshots rang freely, injured people and the injurer-ers ran around screaming and yelling and laughing. Even the sky looked a ghastly red, clouded with smoke and dark storm clouds.

Gotham was under attack. Its opponent: its own residents. _This _was worse than everyday Gotham, and that was saying alot. Snapping out of his initial trance, he ducked down, hiding beside a slow moving car. Glancing inside of it, he realized that the driver was a dead, his blood running down the steering wheel that he still gripped tight. The drivers foot must of gotten stuck on the pedal or something.

There was no way he could handle _this _without Batman, who was probably somewhere near Iran now. He was cocky, and a bit full of himself, but Robin knew when he had a loosing fight ahead of him. It was too many people out tonight and too much damage being done. It wasn't organized nor did it seem as if it had a reason, but the best thing to do now was head home and protect the house and Alfred.

Being out here, as Robin, was bad news. He had probably busted every one of these guys at least twice. Surely, they wouldn't mind putting a bullet through his head. Running down an alley, he shed his costume quickly, revealing his normal day clothes. Pushing his glasses on, he stuck his hands in his pockets, trying to act like he was just as tough as these guys...and not some kid worth millions of dollars.

He thought about catching up to the dead driver guy and stealing the car, but stopped short when 2 big guys blocked his way. He stiffened, making sure neither guys could tell he was afraid. He couldn't go full-out-ninja on them if they attacked, that kind of stuff attracted attention. Even if half the people here hated each others guts, they'd work together to team up on him in an instant. And yet, he couldn't stand here either, allowing himself to get beat up, eventually revealing that he was Dick Grayson, millionaire heir.

So, he did the reasonable thing a kid would do when confronted with large guys: he ran...fast.

He rushed down a familiar alley way, knowing that the only way out of it was through a small slit that only he could get through. It was small, tight, and required a lot of twisting and aerobic training. He could hear the large guys behind him, keeping up surprisingly well. But when one of them called for back-up, he put a little extra distance between them, depending on his adrenalin to keep him going.

Why _he, _a kid who didn't look like he had a penny on him, was targeted, was a mystery to him. These guys probably just wanted something to hit...or throw...or shoot or kill or beat to a bloody pulp. Unfortunately for them, though, he just wasn't in the mood to get killed or beaten. Bruce wasn't going to be home for a while, but he still had a lot to look forward to. He wasn't going to let this little outbreak ruin his night.

Finally reaching the closing in the alley, he hoped up, grabbing a fire escape latter and flew through the crack easily, leaving confused, large men behind. It was a thick wall he had to crawl through, but already he was just about half way there. He was about to laugh loudly when he heard several rounds of gun fire. One of the bullets must of ricocheted off of the inside wall because the next thing he knew, he was holding his right hand to his side, trying to suppress the oozing blood.

It stung...alot and burned. He was pretty sure it was a clean shot though, no major muscles or veins, nor any bones. He wanted to cry and he was tired of pulling his own weight through the crack he was crawling in, but the sound of chaos and metal hitting rock drove him on. Obviously, the men he left behind was trying to knock down the wall he was in, and if he didn't get to the other side fast, he would be in serious trouble.

He could still hear yelling and cursing as he pulled himself out the crack with his left arm. He fell to the ground gracelessly and suppressed a pained cry. He had been shot in his right side, that much was clear, but how deep and the kind of gun they had used was unknown to him. He needed to get the bullet out, but he couldn't do that without having something to hold in the new blood that would flow.

He stood up slowly, using his left side for both support and balance. Already, his right side was numbing, but he couldn't stay here. Not with an outrage going on just over a wall and wounded. He scanned the ground quickly, looking for some kind of stick to help him walk...and possibly protection. The way to the manor from there was pretty far and went through another bad part of town. He really should have asked Wally for a ride.

With the street lights mostly out, Dick could hardly see. Giving up, he dropped, painfully, to the ground and felt around for something long and hard. He just needed something to support himself with, anything really. A pair of crutches would be really nice. He jumped back, startled when a large piece of rock fell and broke next to him. Looking back towards the wall, he saw that it was now filled with cracks, sending large pieces of rock to the ground.

The men were getting close.

Giving up on the 'big stick' idea, he crawled forwards. He was running out of time. He just needed to keep moving. Keep moving towards home. Keep moving forwards. At the end of the alley was a fence. It was tall and old and sturdy...minus one part. Exactly 24 wood pieces over was a loose piece of wood. He just needed to get to it and move it out of his way. Trying to get back up, he stumbled forwards landing on his face.

His face scrunched up in confusion. He had fallen forwards; yes, but, why was he laying on something soft? It took a lot of effort, but he was finally able to sit up. It seemed as if getting up was getting harder with every fall.

Lifting his head up, adrenaline pulsed through him in a quick burst. His pain was temporarily gone as he backed up against the wall that was tumbling down a little more each second. He hadn't fallen on some discarded backpack like he hoped, no, he had fallen on a person...a dead person.

He held his left hand to his chest trying to steady his breathing. It was one thing fighting crime and seeing accidental (and sometimes sick purposeful) deaths, it was something else seeing a dead guy driving a car (something he'll never forget), but it was an entirely different thing when he fell _on top _of a dead guy.

_Yes, that was entirely different._

Taking a better look, he realized that it wasn't one dead guy, but two...or actually it was only one dead _guy, _but there was a dead _woman _beside him.

_Catch your breath, _he reminded himself. The last thing he needed was to start hyperventilating. _Keep going forward, your be there in a minute._

Getting off his initial adrenaline rush was bad news for him. The pain returned, leaving him tired and weak. Shaking his head of negative thoughts, he rolled onto his stomach, he couldn't just sit here and do nothing. Reaching his left arm up, he pulled his own weight forwards, a large falling rock just missing his head. He didn't need to look back to know they had made a hole to his side. The yelling was louder and he knew, any minute now, they'd start shooting again, this time killing him.

The thought of death gave him a bit of strength. He didn't want to die. He was to young to die. He could _not _die. Not now. Not like this. He had to go out heroically, saving someones life, not getting shot in a petty alley way by some petty thieves.

Pulling himself with one arm took a lot of strength and muscle he didn't have. He was nearly to the fence when he heard a squeal. For a moment, he thought he had somehow rolled over a mouse. His original thoughts were: _gross, _but he remembered his predicament and kept crawling forwards, hoping the mouses guts didn't stain his shirt...and that no one would shoot him.

When he heard the squeal again, he froze. He was wasting time and the screaming voice in the back of his head made sure he knew that, but as he listened, he realized that it wasn't squealing he heard...but crying instead.

Giving a quick look around he continued moving forwards. He was no help to anyone dead. He heard a loud scraping sound suddenly. It scared the pain right out of him momentarily. As his head was crowded with numerous thoughts (what was that noise? Where was it coming from? How close are the men to getting to me? Why isn't Bruce here to save me? Why is there a could of dead people on the ground?) he continued the agonizing crawl forward, but it seemed as if the closer he got to the turn of the alleyway, the louder and more frantic the scratching sound got.

Getting to the fence made him feel like he had just run a marathon...no, make that _2 _marathons. But, he had made it. He reached out, not even needing to count how far over to the loose board he was. He hung his head of exhaustion, reaching his hand out to the board at the same time only...well, he didn't remember the board being fuzzy and soft.

His head snapped his head up at the same moment he heard the high pitched squeal/cry again. Realization hit him as he realized there was no crazy crying mice- it was just a little boy. He stared at the boys tearful face for a moment, then, he slowly turned around to look at the dead couple behind them. Turning his face back towards the boy, he realized that it must have been his parents. His _dead _parents.

He couldn't help but pity the boy. Both of them had lost their parents. Both them had _seen _the loss of their parents. And at the moment, both of them was in danger. Despite his numb body (and the fact that he was bleeding a lot more, thanks to his numerous adrenaline rushes) he scooped the boy up into his arms and stood up, using the fence for support.

Gunshots suddenly rang clearly, causing Dick to have, yet another heart attack, and causing the boy to scream loudly. One of the bullets skinned his calf, causing him to grit his teeth.

_Okay, it was going to be one of those days._

He swung himself and the boy through the fence and around the corner as quickly and as smoothly (although it didn't really look that way) as he could. Alfred would have his work cut out for him tonight. He held the small boy up quickly, turning him back and forth carelessly, looking for any signs of wounds. Thankfully though, the only blood on him, was from Dick himself.

He took just a second to catch his breath. The boy clung to Dick like his life depended on it. His tiny, grubby hands were clamped tight around Dick's arm.

_Okay, _he thought, _so I cant walk now, I could barely walk before. I need a ride, but I shed my cell phone with my suit. I have to get this kid to safety, and I have to get out of this riot myself._

No sooner had the thoughts passed his mind that a sleek black motorcycle skidded to a stop in front of him. The bike was nice, that much was obvious. Nothing was noticeable about the rider other than the fact that they were good on a cycle. Whether or not the person wanted him dead or was just trying to scare him was beyond him. The only thing keeping him from running again (other than his injuries) was the cycle: perfect transportation.

It seemed fast and it seemed easy to get. The rider seemed slim and easy to take down. He carefully slid the boy off his arm. When the kid latched back on, he slid him off again, standing up this time. He just needed to get the rider off the motorcycle, grab the kid, and get out.

In a fluid motion, he had tackled the rider, sending them both to the ground on the other side of the vehicle. He tried a classic hold on the guy, but the guy quickly turned, headbutted him with his helmet and tried to get on top.

Dick kicked both his legs up at once, knocking the guy off of Dick and making the guy loose his balance. Trying again to get on top, Dick rolled onto his stomach, ignoring the screams his body was sending him, and tried the grab the guys arms and force them behind his back.

As he was again overcome, only to get the upper edge again, he faintly heard the kid crying, probably terrified at the sight of the fight, but Dick couldn't stop. Not with the kid needing help and himself needing medical help.

Another headbutt to the head, though, sent him reeling back. He tried to stay sitting up, but the world spun to quickly for his eyes and mind and the next thing he knew, he was laying on the hard cement ground. Even with the world tilting left and right and spinning in 5 different ways all at once, he knew the attacker guy- who still hadn't removed his helmet- was concerned about the last hit. When he saw the black helmet come into view, looking at his face, he quickly took advantage of the moment and jabbed the guy in the stomach hard.

Dick pushed back on the guy, quickly getting up at the same time. He spun around quickly, looking for the kid, only to get an atrocious pain in his side. Dropping down to his knees, he held his side tightly, as if his hands could some how push all the pain away physically. His vision swam and he tried to blink away the tears that had sprung to them. Out of nowhere, the kid latched onto his arm again.

He looked up, seeing something black in his peripheral vision, only to realize it was a glove. The mysterious riders glove, reaching out to him and trying to help him up.

And then it started to rain.

_How could his day go from utterly amazing to utterly disastrous- purposefully being light on the asterous part? It really couldn't get any worse than this._

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A/N: Okay? Anyone not satisfied? Anyone completely satisfied? PLZ tell me what cha think. N also, read my other W.I.P (work in progress) A Test of Faith, pretty good if you ask me. I love you guys reviews, plz **_Read and Review!_**


	2. Let the Pain begin

Hey peoples!

You guys ought to be proud of yourselves. You awesome people who reviewed fueled me in this chapter. Imagine my surprise when I checked my e-mails before bed to see that I have _3 _new reviews and many many many author favorites. I'll tell ya, I was grinning like the Cheshire cat.

(Virtual hugs to all!)

Plz keep the reviews coming. I swear, they make me type faster.

LOLZ, enjoy!

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_-_ATWFAU-_-

_-_-_YJ_-_-_

Dick cautiously reached his hand back to the guy. The grip he got wasn't as strong as he expected a mans to be, but he did notice that the guy was awfully skinny.

Dick was nearly standing when his side gave another agonizing shot of pain. He almost went back down to the ground, but the guy caught him halfway, half carrying half walking him to the motorcycle.

Dick wasn't used to this kind of help. The only help he received from Batman was a 'look out' warning and an occasion shove to the side to avoid a bullet and sometimes a trick Joker's card.

The guy set him down on the motorcycle _extremely _gentle. A bit too gentle than what he was used to. He had to wonder just who this guy was, why he wanted to help him, and how he knew where to find him.

He was pulled from his mind as the kid was set in his lap. Immediately, the blue-eyed, midnight-haired, boy turned and hugged his stomach. If Dick wasn't in so much pain, he would of thought the kid was kind of cute. He looked up to the rider, who pointed to Dick's legs and then himself and then the motorcycle.

Dick was lost for a bit. The rider sagged as if sighing and accepting that Dick was indeed, an idiot. The rider finally stepped forwards, throwing Dick's right leg over the other side of the cycle and got on himself. Gritting his teeth from the sudden movement, he wrapped his arms around the kid and held on to the mans shoulders.

He realized that the man must have been wearing leather. Looking down, he was correct. The man had on a full leather suit, complete with attached boots. Boots...with a heel on them? Dick shook his head. What this man _wore _was none of his business. His business was getting himself and the kid to safety. He needed to stay whelmed.

After revving the bike twice, the man sped off out of the alley. The boy gripped Dick tight, but Dick was used to high speeds. Really, going fast was the only way to ride a motorcycle. Any other way took away the beauty of the ride. And yet, Dick was concerned about his bullet wound, specifically his right side. He was getting hyper on this cycle, going fast always did that to him, and he worried that these adrenaline rushes would bleed him to death.

He took advantage of the kid a bit, sliding him over a bit so that he could use the kids body to try and stanch the flow of blood, but he eased off a bit when he noticed the kids eyes grew wide at the site of blood. Dick scolded himself. This kid just watched his parents get murdered, did he really need to see a guy bleed to death?

Turning a corner, the cycle tilted almost horizontal before rightening and going down a familiar street. Mountain Drive, aka Wayne Manor street. Coming up on 1007, Dick wondered how on earth he was going to get rid of this stranger. The bright-eyed kid could stay, of course until Alfred figured out what to do with him, but this strange man who didn't speak or remove his helmet and wore heels? Well, he'd have to go.

Stopping in the front, Dick got off trying to keep his pained face under control.

"Well," he said nicely "Thanks for the ride and rescue, but..."

He trailed off, purposefully hoping the stranger got the 'but you cant come in' meaning. He held the kid on his hip, struggling to remain standing. If only the guy would just rev his engine and take off, Dick could _try _and enjoy the rest of the night. He _did _have the best macaroni and cheese to look forwards to.

His fantasy of the leaving stranger was crushed when the guy got off his bike, snatched the kid from his arms, and marched to the manor door.

Dick was angry now. Not angry at the fact that this guy walked around like he owned the place. Not angry that the guy had marched in _front _of him, when Dick was the only one with the key. No, he was _furious _at the fact that this guy had snatched the kid from him. Okay, he hadn't known the kid very long, but he felt responsible for him. The two had a common fact; they both watched as their parents died. If Dick couldn't comfort this kid than no one could. This mysterious guy couldn't just come and _take _him from him.

Despite his injuries and pain, Dick marched right up behind the guy, kicking him in the back of the knee. The guy stumbled forwards and Dick grabbed the kid back before he hit the ground. Dick was _not _going to be pushed around. Not today. He still had plenty to look forward to, he would _not _let his day be ruined, nor would he be a push-over.

He didn't help the stranger up nor did her care the guy was still following him as he unlocked the door. Alfred would get rid of this 'lost puppy'. If anyone denied 'strays' and animals that followed Dick home, it was Alfred.

Walking inside, Dick tried to set the kid down, but he held tight to him.

"Come on, kid. Let go." he said, shaking his hips, trying to make the kid slide down, but he was holding to tight.

In the kids attempt to stay latched to Dick's hip, he grabbed Dick's waist, right where the wound was. Dick screeched. He would have been completely embarrassed if he wasn't in so much pain. He wobbled in his pain induced loss of balance, but with the kid still holding tight to him, he couldn't move his legs to keep his balance.

He fell backwards...only to be caught by the stranger. He looked up through his crazed hair only to see that the stranger wasn't a guy after all.

Red hair covered most of her face as she helped Dick stand back up. She bent down in front of him to look the kid in the eyes.

"Hello," she said, her voice soft and smooth. "What is your name?"

The kid neither answered nor loosened his grip on Dick and when she reached her hand out to him he ran between Dick's legs, whimpering and threatening to cry and scream other wise. The girl huffed, not a bit swayed that she was being completely blown off.

"If you tell me your name," she said, her voice extra sweet, "I'll give you a special surprise."

For a moment, nothing happened, and for another moment, Dick didn't think anything _would _happen. But before he knew it, the kids head was peaking from between his legs, and slowly, the kid stepped in front of Dick. The kid was still leaning back heavily on Dick's legs, probably ready to dash if the girl made any sudden moves. He like looking at a wild rabbit.

"I wont hurt you," she said, leaning towards the boy.

Dick leaned forward himself, pushing the kid forward as well and silently encouraging him. Yet still, the kid didn't budge...but, he beckoned the girl towards him shyly. Getting the message, she leaned in to him, ear first as the kid whispered something in her ear.

"Tom?" she asked, pulling back.

When the kid shook his head, she leaned in again.

"Jim?" she said, uncertainty etched on her face.

The kid blew out an annoyed breath, then beckoned her over again.

"Tim?"she asked, certain she had gotten it right.

The moment she said his name, he darted between Dick's legs again. The girl smiled, standing up. Now that she was closer to his height level...and not catching him as he loss his balance, he could see she was actually pretty. No, scratch that, beautiful. No, scratch that too, she was gorgeous. She was beyond gorgeous. She was...was...totally amazing. Heavy on the mazing part.

She had large green eyes that actually looked unreal. They contrasted greatly with her strawberry red hair that Dick was _sure _was natural. Her skin, or what he could see of it through her leather suit, was so tan it almost looked orange.

"Kori Anders," she said, sticking her hand out to him.

He was a bit taken back with her hyper gesture, but the way she smiled, not only did it light her face up, but it seemed natural. It his him that she must be this happy _all _the time. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing.

"Dick Grayson." he said, his own voice sound deep in comparison to hers.

She made a face, her beautiful features scrunching up in an unknown emotion.

"That is _really, _your name?" she asked, then seemed to catch herself, "Not that that is a bad name...I was just-"

"No its alright," he said, stopping her rant "Actually, its Richard. My _nicknames _Dick."

"Well I like Richard better," she said.

She took a moment to look around herself before turning her attention back to my knees, or who was behind them rather.

"You brother is very shy," she said, trying to look around me so that she could see Tim.

"Oh," Dick said rather casually, "He's not my brother. I found him."

Kory looked at him oddly and Dick couldn't help but mentally slap himself. _Found him? He sounded like Tim was a cat or something. _

"He looks just like you though," she said, walking around Dick to see Tim, but Tim only went on the other side of Dick's legs, avoiding her. "The blue eyes and dark hair."

Dick tried to smile. Or talk. Or anything, but the sudden pain in his body was back. He felt as if his body were about to fall apart, right then and there. He'd been shot before, but the feeling never got any better. He closed his eyes, forcing the pained bile that threatened to come up to go back down.

When he opened his eyes again, everything seemed to be a mixed blend of colors. He tilted his head to the side, red, green, and orange blobs coming closer to him.

"Richard?"

He faintly heard Kory's voice talking to him. She sounded far away, her voice echoing and being nearly drowned out by the sound of his blood rushing in his ears. He raised his left hand slowly, rubbing his eyes and trying to get clarity back. Everything seemed as if it were moving in slow motion, even his own body.

He tilted back, just barely catching himself and just missing stepping on Tim.

"Richard, come sit down."

He felt himself moving, but the direction and speed was unknown to him. He hardly noticed when Kory put her hands on his shoulder, forcing him to sit. It felt good to have the pressure of his weight relieved from his body, but he felt...wet. His brain clicked as he realized it was just his blood. No big deal. He was just bleeding to death on his step-dad's sofa. No problem.

"Richard what can I do?" she asked frantically.

Well basically, she _could _do a number of things. The proper way to ask was 'what _should _she do'. But then, he really wasn't one to correct the English language, he screwed it up, bashed it, and bruised it on a number of occasions. But according to him, the English language was screwed anyway, so why try and correct it?

Scolding his over-analyzing mind, he blinked and wiped at his eyes. Time to get whelmed and stay traught.

"Alright," he said, his voice firm and oddly calm, "Kori, im going to need a lot of stuff. I need you to run to the kitchen and get the medical supplies out the top cabinet, by the lazy Suzy. Then go into the drawers and grab a knife, gloves, tweezers, and a candle and match. Grab a bunch of paper towels too, some wet and some not. There's a sowing kit in the drawer by the stove, I need that too. We need a bucket of ice as well, wet it a little so that its a bit wet. If you see an old guy walking around, tell him to follow you."

He pointed the way to the kitchen and she ran down it. Turning his attention to Tim, he tried to think of something to keep him occupied. What was about to happen, wasn't going to be pretty...and probably pretty loud too.

"Tim," he said, getting the attention of the boy. He hadn't moved from Dick's side, and Dick knew he'd have trouble making him. "See that chair over there?"

He pointed to the far away chair. It was old, but barely tattered and extremely clean, thanks to Alfred. Tim nodded his head.

"My book bag is over there," he said, "Its a little heavy, but can you drag it over here?"

For a moment, Tim seemed hesitant to move away, but slowly, he slide off the sofa he was on, waddling over. Oddly, Tim dragged the book bag over fairly quick.

Trying not to move to much, Dick reached into the side of the bag, pulling out one of his other phones. He probably had about 20 of them. Each for a different reason, and some because he lost others. Doing the things he did, he crashed his phone a lot, so Bruce brought him a hand full. This was probably the only reason he wasn't freaking out about his discarded phone in the alley.

He pulled out some headphones and plugged them into the phone.

"What type of movies do you like?" he asked Tim, who just shrugged his shoulders. Tim just _had _to make things difficult.

Going out on a whim, he youtube'd Toy Story. No kid could resist that. He helped Tim get the headphones on and sent him to sit on the old sofa his bag used to be by.

Tim was totally engrossed in the film when Kory came back, her hands full and dripping from the few wet paper towels. She sat on the floor, laying the supplies beside her and looked up at him frantically.

"Lets setup," he said, trying to sit up better from his slouched position. "Get the sowing kit out and take out the thread. Set the thread in the rubbing alcohol and let it soak for a while."

"Now what?" she asked, finishing it.

_Let the pain begin._

He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself. "Take the alcohol and wet a paper towel for me, then take another one and clean the knife and tweezers."

As she worked, he noticed her hands were shaking. Not good. He had only known her for probably 15 minutes, but already he needed her. With what he had planned, shaking hands was not any benefit to either of him. He just hoped she didn't get woozy when she had to see the actual wound.

She shakily handed him the paper towel and he took yet another deep breath. He hiked up the side of his shirt and pressed the alcohol-ed paper towel to the wound. He hissed loudly, trying not to draw the attention of Tim. Tim was happily watching his movie, he didn't need to be bothered with this sight either.

It was hard cleaning a wound when it still gushed blood, but he made do with what he could.

"Kory?" he asked, getting her attention. She was cleaning the tweezers frivolously, her hair looking like fire as she moved without really knowing what was happening. "There clean." he said.

"Nows the time to tell me if you have Haemaphobia."

She looked at him oddly. "A fear of seeing blood." he clarified.

She shook her head, shrugging her shoulders. _Okay, so she didn't know. _Well that was okay, she'd know soon enough.

"Okay, put on the gloves and grab the tweezers," he told her. That sentence probably scared the mess out of her, but he needed her to do this. If he did it himself, he could make things worse.

"What...what are we doing with the tweezers?" she asked, eying him carefully.

"We need to get the bullet out."

Watching the color drain from her face was like watching an orange drain of color. She went completely beige, making her hair look more like a blood kind of color, which in reality, was completely ironic. But she seemed to snap out of her trance and almost immediately, her shaking stopped.

"Just tell me how," she said, her voice suddenly confident.

Dick blinked for a moment. Just seconds ago, she was in a full-out-freak-out mode, and now she was ready to operate on him without a moments notice? Okay, he could take that.

"Give me another alcohol-ed paper towel, it bleeding too much."

She handed it to him, still waiting instruction.

"Im going to try and keep the wound clean for you," he said through grit teeth as he pressed on the paper towel, "But keep in mind, its still bleeding. I dont have the proper stuff to completely keep the blood out your way, so it might get messy. I need you to take the tweezers, go into the wound, find the bullet, and get it out. You have to grab the bullet, and the bullet only. Be careful not to grab any tissue or flesh. And please remember, this is my body. If you move to fast or something, you can rupture another vein or hit a muscle or something."

She nodded. Her face was still drained of color, but she seemed confident enough, and her hands had stopped there violent shaking. She looked at his wound for a moment before going in.

Queerly enough, she was gentle and he could hardly feel a thing. She found the bullet, which wasn't as deep as he thought, and pulled it out easily, dropping it onto the floor with a sigh of relief.

"We're not done yet." he told her. "Now, take the candle and light it."

She seemed exhausted, but complied with his wishes. If only she knew they probably weren't even halfway done.

"Hold the knife over the fame," he said, when the candle was lit and going.

He waited as the knife grew red in heat. He was _not _going to like this. Not even a little bit. He just hoped he turned up Toy Story as loud as it could go and that Kory wouldn't mind his screaming.

"What now?" she asked, her gave curious.

Dick wiped the wound again, its bleeding having decreased a bit.

"We're going to burn the wound closed." he said, purposefully avoiding her gaze. He'd gotten her to pull out the bullet, but burning his skin closed? He wasn't sure if she'd go along with that one.

"Really?" she asked, disbelieving.

Dick nodded his head at her. Really. This was probably going to traumatize her. He was already 'matized', why not throw in the trauma as well. She took a deep breath and nodded her head.

_Sweet, she was on board!_

"Okay," he said, needing yet another paper towel to clean the blood, "Im going to hold the would closed, and your going to put the knife where the skin meets, okay?"

She just nodded her head, getting closer so that she could act fast.

"1." he counted, preparing himself.

"2." he pushed his skin together and closed his eyes tight.

"3!"

There was 4 things that came out of what happened; three positive.

Positive: He did _not _scream like a little girl.

Positive: Tim neither turned nor acknowledged Dick's howling.

Positive: Kory didn't sway or burn any other part of him in his jolt of pain.

Negative: It hurt like crap.

She held the knife down until she was satisfied. Dicks face was still in the sofa, where he had smashed his face in attempt to smother his own cries...and hide his tears. He lay there for a moment, as Kory wiped the burned flesh with a alcohol-ed paper towel.

Wiping his face in the sofa fabric, he finally sat up. They _still _weren't finished. One of the perks of being a ninja: you learn to avoid things like bullets. One of the downsides to fighting crime: the pain and injuries that come along with it are a killer.

Kory sat back, even more tired and mentally exhausted.

"Still not done." Dick said, his voice strained and gruff from his crying.

Kory looked as if she might cry too. But instead, she asked, "What next?"

Dick had to give it to her though, he had put her through crap all night. Attacking her when she came to help, making her give him wound operations, she had gone through a lot. Much more than any other _usual _girl would even allow herself to go through.

"We have to stitch it up," he said, and pointed to the ice, "But first we have to numb it."

She held out the ice to him and he grabbed a piece, pressing it lightly to the wound. Kory grabbed a piece too, lightly running it over the burnt flesh. This poor piece of flesh had gone through so much. It was his knew favorite body piece. Wally of course, would have a field day-after his initial shock- when he saw the scar. Dick would be sore for a while, but he'd get passed it.

A burning feeling hit his leg and he remembered how he had gotten skinned. Luckily, he just needed to clean it and wrap it. He didn't know if he could bare it if his leg was as bad as his side. He'd definitely die, and so would Kory, if he to do this again.

Once he felt his side was numb, he dropped what was left of the ice and pointed to the sowing kit and candle.

"We need to make sure the needle is clean," he said, as Kory searched through the kit. "Run the needle through the fire a few times and then get the thread that's been soaking out."

She pulled the thread from the rubbing alcohol and pushed it through the eye of the needle.

"Okay," he said, prepared to talk her through this, "Tie a knot at the end of your thread and then poke the needle through here."

He pointed to the end of his wound about 3 mm down from the actual cut. She took a deep breath and did as he said. His side was so numb he hardly felt a thing.

"Pull the thread through until it is stopped by the knot."

As she did this, Dick looked over the couch towards the kitchen.

"Poke the needle through here," he said pointed next to her previous stitch, "Pull the slack of the thread through and tighten firmly, but don't kill me please," she smiled a bit.

He pushed the skin together at the same time, making sure the thread was even and went straight across from one side of the wound to the other, as opposed to jagged or crooked.

"Bring the needle across the cut and crossover the wound with the thread." he said, pointing with his other hand to show her, "Poke the needle through the skin about 3 mm below the cut again. Pull the slack through again and keep going."

As she sowed, he looked back to the kitchen. Where was Alfred? Normally Alfred would have picked him up at the train station, or at least greeted him at the door. Normally, Alfred would have been all over this kind of stuff. Normally, Alfred would have already had dinner made and Dick would have come home to the smell of cheesy macaroni. Normally, wasn't today.

His day had begun amazing. He had went through school with high spirits. Aced all his quizzes..._pop_ quizzes. He had pizza for lunch. Tossed a bully down some stairs- although he claimed he had tripped and it was an accident. But sometime after the mission, things had turned sour. His entire happy checklist was tossed out like yesterdays french fries.

Macaroni and cheese- didn't seem like it was going to happen.

Bruce being home- not happening.

Alfred making cookies- he wished. He could use some useless junk at the moment.

The only thing he _did _look forwards to was Friday...well, today.

"Now what, Richard?" Kory asked, reaching the end of the wound.

"Tie a knot at the end of the thread and make it as tight and close as you can," he said, stifling a yawn "Cut the remainder of the thread just above that knot and viola- finished."

She did as he said with a smile, then, she cautiously and slowly leaned back, making Dick laugh.

"Its okay, we're done," he said, not mentioning his leg on purpose. He could handle that himself.

He looked over to Tim, who was asleep on the sofa, the movie's light dancing across his face.

"Thanks, Kory." he said, "For everything." She had rescued him, in more ways than one.

"It is not a problem." she said, smiling cheerfully. "Well," she said, standing up, "I must be going now. I have school in the morning."

"Yeah, me too," he said, standing up with her.

"I had an...eventful night." she said, giggling. "And I would go out on a whim and say that Robin did too."

Dick froze.

"Robin?" he asked.

She pushed him playfully. "I saw you change in the alleyway. I...I perhaps followed you," she said quietly, "It was how I knew to come get you."

Dick blinked at her. Could his secret have been blown that easily? Had anyone else seen him shed his costume in the alley?

"I wont tell," she said, waving a hand in his face, "I have a secret, too."

This caught his attention. He turned to her, face probably still drained of color. What would Bruce say when he found out his secret was blown?

"Give me a target." she said, happy again and bouncing.

"Uh...Tim." Dick said, turning back to the sleeping boy.

"No!" Kory said, "Something you dont care about."

"How was I supposed to know?" he said, defending himself "You just said give you a target."

She huffed at him and then pointed to a plant in the corner.

"Shoot away," Dick said, shocked when his term turned out to actually be on point.

Her hand glowed a brilliant shade of green, much like her eyes. She held her hand up, throwing the green light towards the plant, demolishing it. Dick had a feeling she hadn't meant to blow up the entire corner, but she _did _get the plant.

"Whoa!" he said, grabbing her hand. It was still warm, but it seemed to be completely back to normal. "Where are you _from?" _he asked. Most of the heroes he knew were either martians, from a different planet, or the result from some freak accident. It would be interesting to know what category she fit in.

"Tamaran." she said proudly, "Its-"

"Let me guess, another planet."

She nodded her head. Okay, so she fit under the 'from a different planet' category. No problem, he had plenty of friends like that.

"My sister and I just got here yesterday." she said. "We start school tomorrow. Earlier, I had come out for some fresh air. I wasn't worried about her, she does her own thing normally. To her, I merely exist. I was near the train station, heading back home when you came out. I knew the station was shut down, so I kinda followed you."

Dick nodded his head. He had been stalked by an alien from the planet Tamaran, and he hadn't even knew it.

"After you got shot," she continued "I was going to go and help you, but you found Tim and I knew I couldn't get you both back at the same time. Especially with him clinging to you like he does."

Tim _did _cling to Dick a lot, but he _had _just lost his parents, so Dick figured it was only natural to be clingy.

"So I went home and took my sisters motorcycle then came back to get you." she paused for a moment, then snapped to him suddenly "Then _you hit _me!"

Dick held his hands up in innocence "Technically, I only tried to get you in a hold. Not that it worked to well. Your a good fighter."

She blushed and Dick had to admit, it was pretty cute. She in general was amazing. She came to his rescue, stitched him up, and...she can burn a whole corned with the flick of her wrist. Yeah, she was amazing.

She looked back to Tim.

"I feel so horrible. I wish I was there earlier, to help his parents."

Dick rubbed his arms, suddenly cold. Everyone was always a pinch too late. No one ever made it one time, at least, that was how his life story went.

"I guess I better get back home," Kory said, after a minute, "New school and everything."

Dick walked her to the door. His body still felt sore and numb and Dick really wanted to take a hot bath, but he still had a mountain of homework to do and he still needed to find Alfred.

"Perhaps I'll come by and check on Tim." she said, turning outside of the door to look at him.

"I wont be here tomorrow," he said, his cheeks suddenly going pink, "But I'll...we'll...be here all day on Saturday."

Kory smiled and nodded, stepping to him and giving him a hug. With her happy, cheerful, nature, he didn't think she really meant anything by the hug. But he knew his cheeks were flaming by now. _When was the last time he hugged a girl? _

"Then I will stop by on Saturday, to make sure Tim _and _you are alright." she said, backing away.

_How much redder_ _could his cheeks get? _

All he could do was smile, nod, and shrug his shoulders. He wasn't feeling exactly like Mr. Cool. And, the way she emphasized the fact that she would see him too? Well, it made him feel funny.

"Be careful!" he called as she sped away on her sister's motorcycle.

He felt like a complete idiot, letting her go home alone. If he, _Robin, _had a hard time then she, _a girl, _would too. He just hoped she didn't live very far and got home safe. He scolded himself for not getting her number.

He closed and locked the door behind himself, taking a deep breath. He felt as if he had been holding it the whole time. He had just met the girl. Normally, he laughed at girls for their over conscious state. Normally, they irked him when they flirted. _Normally, _he could talk to them without blushing and making an idiot of himself. _Why was she different? _

The thought was cast aside when he heard a shrill shriek. He immediately knew the high pitched scream was Tim and ran down the hallway, his body still crying out in agony to him. Racing into the foyer room, where he had left Tim, he was relieved when he saw Tim was alone and not in the hands of some madman.

The moment Tim saw Dick enter the room, he jumped out the chair and ran to Dick, locking his arms around Dick's leg. Dick's leg cried out to him in anguish, but he pushed the pain aside. Picking up Tim, he wiped his tears with the back of his hand and made his way to the kitchen.

A bunch of the drawers were open, but Dick supposed it was from Kory as she looked for the tools they needed. He set the still tearful Tim on the counter and began closing the drawers. He pulled off the last remaining paper towel, making a mental note to replace it, and went back to Tim. He dabbed at Tim's face, trying not to look into Tim's large blue eyes.

Dick remembered how his mom used to wipe his face like this when he cried. She'd talk soothing to him while dabbing his face. Then she'd let him have a snack and remind him that she loved him.

"How old are you?" Dick asked, keeping his voice soft.

If this helped sooth him when he was younger, he figured he ought to try with Tim as well. After all, his mother was better with children then anyone he knew.

Tim held up his hand and Dick knew he was silently counting his fingers. After a moment, he turned his hand around, holding up all five fingers. Dick nodded. He didn't remember being 5. He tried to push all memories before age 9 away most of the time.

"Are you hungry?" he asked.

Dick knew _he _was hungry, he hadn't had anything since he was at the cave- and that was only a water. When Tim nodded his head, Dick went to the refrigerator, stopping when he noticed a piece of paper was stuck under a refrigerator magnet. He immediately recognized the neat cursive of Alfred's hand writing.

**Dick and Bruce, I've had to go away to England for a few weeks or so. You may recall, I mentioned it a few weeks ago. My distant aunt is sick and is in need of aid. The two of you shouldn't have any problems while im gone. Order out if cooking is to ambitious for you. I shall return in a few weeks.**

**-Alfred.**

Well apparently, Alfred wasn't aware Bruce had to fly out to Russia. And apparently, Bruce didn't remember Alfred had to fly out to England. Neither one knew they had left Dick home alone.

Dick shrugged, being home alone wasn't a big deal. Of course, being home alone for a month was. Half of him wanted to call Bruce or Alfred and explain the situation, but the other half knew that they both left because they had important things to do. Dick didn't want to be the reason his step-fathers Russian branch went under, and he also didn't want to take Alfred away from his sick aunt. Alfred was old, making Alfred's aunt even _older. _Who knew, this could have been the last time Alfred even _saw _his aunt. Besides, the old butler worked too hard, it would be nice for him to get away for a while, even if it was to do more work.

Dick grabbed the milk out of the refrigerator. He went into the cabinet grabbing the cereal and two bowls and two spoons. He'd think about what to do later. Handing Tim his bowl of cereal, Dick glanced at the clock. 4:53 am. He'd have to wake up soon for school. Speaking of school, he had a ton of homework to do.

He finished off his cereal quickly. If he wanted even an hour of sleep, he'd have to finish his homework quick. He turned to Tim while rinsing out his bowl.

"Whats wrong?" he asked, when he noticed Tim wasn't eating.

"Mommy says I shouldn't eat breakfast after lunch." he said.

It was the first time Dick had actually heard Tim say _actual _words. His voice was tiny and so soft Dick had to turn off the running water to hear him.

"She wouldn't mind," Dick said, drying his bowl and putting it back in the cabinet.

"She'll be angry." Tim said, beginning to eat his cereal.

Dick froze as he put his spoon back in the drawer. He had been wrong. He had thought Tim had understood; his mommy wasn't going to be mad. His mommy wasn't going to know. His mommy was dead and she wasn't coming back.

"Tim, I thought," he started, unsure how to continue "Tim...your mommy...shes not going to...you dont have to..." he stopped, looking at Tim's face. His wide blue eyes stared at him, ready to believe everything that Dick told him. His eyes were trusting and willing to do whatever it was Dick told him too.

_How could Dick tell a kid his parents were dead when he w as looking at him like that?_

"Your mommy wont mind this time." he settled on.

He knew, this was a bad idea. The longer he kept this from Tim, the harder it would be in the future, but he didn't have the guts to tell him.

Dick went into the cabinet and pulled out the gauze. He had been so distracted earlier, he forgot to put it on. He wrapped his waist and cleaned his leg, wrapping that too. As Tim finished his cereal, Dick placed the bowl in the sink. Tim rocked back and forth, his drowsiness finally taking over again.

Dick left the kitchen, Tim in his arms, grabbing his book bag and turning out lights as he went, and went up to his room. What he would do with Tim was a mystery. Dick had school later, he had to go to the the cave that day, Tim had no clothes nor any pampers or pull-ups or whatever Tim was using at the moment.

Laying Tim on his bed, Dick took off Tim's shoes and went over to his desk, turning on the lamp. Pulling out his algebra book, he opened to the correct page. He sighed, he _still_ had work to do.

* * *

A/N: *Giggle, giggle* I dids it. I finishz a chapter! *Claps stupidly*

*Clears throat* Anyway, what'd cha think? I know, poor Robbie, he went though a lot, right? Now we all know why they try and avoid getting shot so much. Plz **_Read and Review_** as always. I'll try and get another chapter out soon. Dnt forget to check out my other W.I.P. (work in progress) A Test of Faith.


	3. High School is No Place for Children

What did I say? I told you, your reviews make me type faster, now was I lying? Nope.

I worked long and hard on this, you guys better review. JK; but really, I appreciate your awesomeness. Real quick, I would like to give a quick **_!__Thank You!_** to Reina Grayson. She gave me some good idea's and I would like to say thanks now, you know, before I forget. I'll probably say it again, just bare with me.

Well, I've held this in for too long already. So, read on!

* * *

_YJ_

Dick groaned loudly. He was disoriented and wasn't sure which way he was laying, but all that mattered was the fact that he was in bed and wanted to sleep some more. And yet, the feeling of something bouncing on his back kept him from going back to sleep.

Putting it mildly, his body hurt. Every inch of it. His head. His stomach. His wounds. Everything. He had finished all of his homework sometime around 5: 30 am. He _**re**__fused _heavy with the 're', to wake up before 6:30 am. And yet, the bouncing on his back was not only disturbing his rest, but was going to break his stitches if it continued.

Growling, he fought his way through the layers and layers of blanket and pillows. Sometime in the night, Tim had shifted his position, scaring the crap out of Dick because Dick thought it was Tim rolling off of the bed. And then there was the sudden chill he had gotten. He had just finished throwing pillows and blankets on the floor, in case Tim _did _roll off when his entire body seemed to convulse with chills. He was so cold it had hurt, making him shiver so bad his bones felt it. He feared he'd break his own stitches from the movement. He had marched right back out the door and down the hall to retrieve the blankets off the beds he had taken the pillows from.

Breaking through all of the covering on the bed, Dick sat up, coming face to face with Tim's bright blue eyes. Dick's own crazy hair covered his face, strands poking him in his eyes, but he was too annoyed to remove them from his face.

"Richard!" Tim laughed, rolling onto his back. Really, it didn't even sound like Tim said his name. He said Richard more like 'Rit-tud'. Tim fell back onto the covers, kicking his feet into the air. Obviously, Tim was enjoying the stacks of cushion everywhere.

Dick looked at the clock; 6:27 am. That was three minutes he could have been asleep.

"Richard, look!" Tim said, waiting for Dick's eyes to fall on him. When they did, Tim hopped off the side of the bed, landing on the cushioned floor.

"Cool." Dick deadpanned. It was too early for this.

Taking a deep breath he thought for a moment.

- Tim was still here: it was not a dream

- His school work was done

- He still _had _to go to school today; if he didn't they'd call Bruce and Bruce would be angry with him.

- Dick had to go to Mount Justice, and he _knew _he couldn't just show up with some kid

- Tim had _no _clothes, and Dick hadn't thought of washing them the night before

"You gotta go potty?" he asked Tim, who was rolling around on the floor, pretending to climb a volcano.

Tim nodded his head and Dick climbed out of bed, taking his hand. He was glad he had a bathroom in his room, other wise he probably would have made Tim find it on his own. He was that tired.

Dick pulled Tim's pants down and lifted him onto the toilet, taking note that Tim wore pull-ups; another thing Dick didn't own. While Tim used the bathroom, and sung a odd made-up song about his socks, Dick pulled up his shirt and looked at himself in the mirror.

His stitches were red and looked _extremely _angry. But, he was _'tremely' _happy about the fact that his leg was feeling better. He unwrapped the gauze from his leg, happy when it wasn't blue or yellow. Really, none of his wounds had reason to be infected. After all of the alcohol and paper towels they used, his wounds ought to be cleaner than ever.

The toilet flushed and Tim went over to Dick, his hands held above his head. Dick had to lift Tim up so that he could wash his hands. When Tim was sure his hands were clean (and after saying the alphabet _twice _because he messed up the first time) Tim ran out of the bathroom, squealing and jumping onto the pillow littered floor again.

Dick left the bathroom and rummaged through his drawers for something to wear. A little nagging voice in the back of his head reminded him that Tim didn't have clothes yet either, but he ignored it settling on dark skinny jeans, a red t-shirt, and a black hoodie jacket.

He stood in the bathroom doorway, fidgeting and wondering how exactly he was going to jump in the shower with Tim out here playing. Deciding Tim would be alright, he went into the bathroom, but kept the door open.

He jumped in the shower quickly, doing his best to keep his stitches dry. He had a long day ahead of him. He knew he was too late to try and come up with a lame excuse to get out of school, meaning he had to take Tim with him and hope the teachers didn't have a _big _problem.

Getting out for the rest of the month should be easy though. All he had to do was hack the school computers and make a note that he'd be out for the rest of the month. If he could copy Bruce's signature, the school wouldn't call Bruce for confirmation. He just had to get into the school main office and get to a USB drive. No problem.

"Tim?" he called, getting a muffled 'yes'.

Dick didn't respond, he just needed to know Tim was still close by.

But then their was the problem with Mount Justice. What would he do with Tim there? Tim was a kid...a _regular_ kid. If he introduced Tim to the team someone could find out, putting both Tim and the team- and himself- in danger. If _anyone _knew Tim had met the team and formed some kind of bond with any of them, it could mean trouble for everyone.

"Tim?" he called again, getting a 'yes Richard'.

He was just checking.

He had to avoid paparazzi at _all _costs. The papers and camera's did a good job at exaggerating innocent and useless trash. If Dick was caught walking around with a kid with strange and odd resemblances to him, Bruce would be in social trouble and Dick would be grounded for the rest of his life. Not exactly good for anyone.

Turning off the water and grabbing a towel, Dick felt better. His mind was better organized and he realized that his situation wasn't as _bad _as it could have been. Tim could have been a twin.

"Tim?" Dick called, drying his hair with a towel.

Dick slowed down getting dressed. He heard no giggles. No laughing. No sock singing.

"Tim?" he called again, tripping in his haste to get his pants on.

He rushed out the bathroom, shirt and socks forgotten. He did at least 5 three-sixty turns and at least 9 one-eighty turns.

"Tim?" he called, his voice more frantic.

He threw his mattress up with a grunt and threw around random pillows and blankets. His bedroom door was closed, but he still threw it open and looked out. Forgetting he had already searched the floor, he dropped to his knees and searched again.

"Tim!" he screamed, his voice sounding raw and croaky, from it still being early and his own body being close to tears.

He couldn't loose Tim. He had just found him. His mind played and replayed all of the horrible things that could have happened; all the horrible people who could have him. What would Kory say when she found out? She'd be devastated, she already felt guilty for not saving Tim's parents. Dick had only had Tim for a night, and already, bad things were happening. His head was reeling and spinning at the same time. The headache he had had earlier was coming back to him. Tim was only 5, he couldn't survive _anywhere _alone.

"Richard."

Dick sat up quickly. "Tim?"

"Richard, im up here."

Dick turned around quickly, looking up. He was a bit surprised, but entirely relieved, to see that Tim was sitting on top of his bookcase.

"How did you get up there?" he asked, wiping his nose on his arm. It was beginning to drip.

Tim shrugged his shoulders.

"Jump." Dick said holding out his arms, "I'll catch you."

"No." Tim said crossing his pudgy arms, "You'll drop me."

"I wont," Dick argued "I promise I'll catch you."

Tim just shook his head, causing Dick to sigh. Dick shook the bookcase a little, seeing how stable it was. He hadn't climbed it in months, the last time being when it nearly tipped over and crushed him to death. Despite the memory, he climbed the first two shelves, and then the third.

"Alright," he said, looking down and holding the case with one arm, "Grab on."

Tim was still a few shelves up, but he seemed okay with the distance. Crawling over, Tim lowered his legs over the edge. Dick was holding his breath, fighting the unnatural urge to just climb the rest of the shelves and grab Tim.

Tim dropped to the shelf below the top one, and crawled towards Dick. Tim was hardly within reach, yet still, Dick reached over, plucking him from the shelf.

"Hold on," he said, swinging Tim onto his back.

With acrobatic ease, Dick dropped to the pillowed floor, where Tim jumped off his back and continued playing a mysterious game. Dick fell on his back. He felt exhausted again. His one hour of sleep doing nothing to keep him feeling energized, he felt 'ergized.'

Tim hoped onto Dick's stomach, making Dick flinch and hope his stitches were alright.

"I dont want to wear this." Tim said, shedding his shirt, before Dick could stop him.

He shed his pants before Dick even got himself up from the floor. Grabbing Tim's discarded clothes, Dick realized he wouldn't want to wear the stuff either. If had a funny smell from being wet from the rain. It had his dried blood all over it. And it was wrinkled beyond belief.

Tim opened the bedroom door and ran out, giggling and laughing the whole time. Dick had no choice but to follow him. Tim was going to get sick running around in nothing but his pull-ups. What was it with kids and wearing no clothes?

Dick caught Tim before he even made it to the stairs. He picked Tim up by his waist and carried him back towards his room.

"Do you have any clothes?" Dick asked, putting one of his shirts on Tim "At your house? Do you know where that is? Your address?"

Tim stared at Dick blankly and Dick knew he was on his own with this. Tim went to run and play with all the pillows, but tripped on the shirt. It was oversized and extremely too big. The shirt hung on only one of his shoulders, making the other bare. It wet down to his ankles and completely covered his legs when he bent down.

"Mommy has extra clothes." Tim said suddenly, laughing as he did a tumble roll.

Dick ear perked up. "Where?"

"In her bag. She carries extra, in case I have a accident."

Great, Tim's mom had clothes but...she was dead. How the heck would he get clothes from Tim's dead mother. The police had probably found the bodies already and taken the processions as evidence although they were probably just shot by some thug.

But, it was still early. Maybe, no one had called in the bodies. Or maybe, the police was just arriving. He _was _Robin the Boy Wonder after all. He should be able to get a bag of baby clothes. He nodded his head. 1st step for caring-for-Tim-until-Bruce-got-home-and-took-over-from-there was a go. Get clothes.

Dick through on his shirt and jacket. Then he helped Tim get on his socks and shoes. His socks didn't smell that bad, so he figured they were okay. He put one of his oversized jackets on Tim and threw all his homework into his book bag. He normally left for school around 7:30. It was nearly 7 o'clock, meaning he had about 45 minutes to get Tim some clothes and then get to school.

He jogged down the stairs, his book bag over his shoulder and Tim under his arm. He'd get Tim some breakfast at school, that is, hoping the school would be okay with Tim being there.

He went out through the garage, locking the door behind him. He was taking his motorcycle, the fastest way to anywhere, but had no idea how he was going to take Tim with him and still be safe. He grabbed one of Bruce's helmets and his cycle keys off the hook along with a stretchy line of cable.

Tim waddled around, the over sized shirt at his ankles and Dick's oversized jacket, just barely showing Tim's face through its puffiness. The jacket was red and was filled with rows of air pockets, making Tim look a lot more round and puffy than usual. When Dick put on the helmet, Tim hardly looked like a human.

"I dont like this." Tim said, his voice muffled but all the layers he had on. "I cant breathe."

Dick smiled, putting his own leather jacket and glasses on. He got on his motorcycle, lifting Tim up in front of him. Taking the line of cable, he wrapped it around himself and Tim numerous times. Dick had never, not even once, fallen off of his motorcycle. He was as rooted to the seat as the seat itself, making him an ideal seat belt of sorts. Well, it was the best he could do.

Putting his own helmet on, he revved the engine, then pressed a button on his cycle, opening the garage. He could feel Tim struggling in his 'protection gear', but the moment Dick rode forwards, Tim stopped moving.

The jacket Dick put on Tim wasn't just because it was cold out, he had also counted on it being a built on air bag. In case anything mild, which wasn't going to happen, did in fact happen, Tim would be pretty secure in his little bubble.

Dick knew he must of looked crazy, riding a motorcycle with a fat ball of fabric tied to him, but he could care less about what other people thought of him. If he let that kind of stuff get to him, he'd never survive high school. He was 13 and a freshmen. He came from a circus. He was a orphan. His step-dad had more money than every one at the school. All of that just bode trouble and a hard time. He had learned to keep to himself and ignore anyone who attacked him socially.

Barbara, one of his only friends, was like that too. She was hardheaded, vicious, and smart all in one. His kind of friend. No one messed with her, and really, it wasn't because her dad was the commissioner.

He slowed down and stopped, a road block blocking the way he needed to go. He rode his cycle down a alley way and put it on a lock. Setting his and Tim's helmets on the seat, Dick hoped up onto a fire escape and made his way to the top of a apartment building. It was a lot harder moving with Tim strapped to his chest and it took a bit longer, but he managed. Tim whimpered with every move Dick made, not liking the twisting and sudden, jerky moves Dick had to make. But he didn't cry or scream, and that, Dick was grateful for.

Walking to the edge of the building and looking down, the first thing Dick noticed was that the streets were filled with body bags. Even so, police officers and scientists were still putting bodies in bags. In all of Dick's years of working with Batman, never had he ever seen so many dead bodies in the streets. He ripped a strip of Tim's long shirt off and tied the cloth around Tim's eyes before making his way towards the alley way Tim's parents died in.

He didn't think Tim's parents would still be there, but the sight of any bodies was enough to scar a kid. Tim didn't need to see this kind of stuff so early in life.

Dick opted to walk down a fire escape latter, rather than do a few flips down, for Tim's sake. He had almost reached the bottom when he froze. Police officers were beginning to flood the alley way. The wall he had climbed through the other night was nothing but rubble. The man he had fallen on was no longer there though, but the woman was.

"Alright, lets get her in a bag." came a voice Dick recognized as commissioner Gordon's.

"There's dry blood around here, sir." said one of the police officers.

Dick slowly made his way back up the first escape. No one needed to know that that dry blood, was probably his.

"There's a dead body right there, Chris." Gordon said, "Dead body next to blood. Kind of fits, eh?"

"Not exactly, sir," the officer, Chris said "I looked at the other body. Neither one of them have any wounds."

"Then test the blood." Gordon said.

Dick peaked around the buildings edge. The alley was clear. Gordon probably leaving to check on something else and the Chris guy probably going to get a sampling kit.

Moving fast, Dick jumped down the remaining stairs to the bottom and rushed to Tim's mom. He didn't waste too much time looking at her, his eyes were searching for a bag. Any bag. He kicked up stones from the fallen wall...coming across a blue and grey stripped baby bag.

He grabbed it quickly and ran back up the fire escape stairs, just as he heard Chris enter back into the alley.

Dicks heart was beating a mile a minute as he crossed the apartments rooftop and went over to the other side. Tim wriggled, probably not liking the dis-mobility nor not being able to see. But Dick ignored him for the time being.

Getting back to his cycle, he placed the baby bag on the handles and opened it up. It was filled to the rim with pull-ups, clothes, snacks, sippy cups and toys. Dick did a fist pump and closed the bag. Securing it to the back of the cycle, he took off Tim's make shift blind fold and put his and Tim's helmets on.

He drove fast, knowing it was probably 7 something already. Reaching the school, it was bustling with kids...all older than him. He took his motorcycle around the back of the school, going in where he knew the cafeteria was. Gotham Academy was an elite school, only filled with rich and important kids.

The cafeteria was bustling with chefs of high standards, preparing breakfast for the kids who hadn't eaten yet. Crepe, quiche, souffles, croustades, cranberry almond caramel pancakes, and omelets were all specialties that Dick was never really interested in. Dick grabbed a milk, cereal, and a plastic spoon for Tim and then jetted to the nearest bathroom.

Placing Tim on the closed toilet seat, he stripped off the jacket and large t-shirt Tim wore, replacing it with some jeans, a blue t-shirt (one that actually fit him) and a black hoodie jacket. Dick looked down at himself and than at Tim. They really did look alike, even dressed it.

"Do you have to go potty, really quick?" Dick asked, receiving a shake of the head from Tim.

Stuffing the jacket and shirt in the baby bag, Dick threw it over his shoulder. In addition to his heavy book bag, be felt as if he'd fall over backwards. When Tim held out his arms to Dick, Dick knew he'd have to stop at his locker first.

Dragging himself down the hall as fast as he could, he stopped at his locker and shoved his bag in, only taking out his chemistry book. He hoped no one bothered him today. If all went well, he'd be out for the rest of the month, but with Tim with him, he wouldn't be able to defend himself like normal.

He felt better, having lost the extra weight of his back pack. With Tim on his hip, he made his way to the office, trying desperately to think of a good excuse of why he had a kid with him. Saying Tim was his brother was pretty believable. He just had to hope that the principle would believe that Bruce was away at work, his butler had to take an unexpected leave, and he was stuck with his brother for the day. It was the truth, mostly.

He took a deep breath before opening the office door. He walked by the receptionist desk and the administers desk and went strait to the back door. Knocking twice. He heard the gruff 'come in' of the ever feared principle; Ms. Eagle.

A fitting name really, considering she saw all and swooped down on anyone she thought was out of line...and, she had a bird nose. Wally referred to her as: beak face, something she would _not _appreciate.

He hoisted Tim up higher on his hip and opened the door. Beak face...Ms. Eagle, was sitting at her desk, tall and imposing. _Ms. Eagle. Ms. Eagle. _He reminded himself. The last thing he needed was to call her a stupid name Wally started him on.

Her chair was facing the window, pencil shavings falling to the vacuumed floor. When she turned to him in her chair, he realized that she was indeed sharpening a pencil...just, with her finger nails. She took a deep breath, placing the pencil on her desk next to at least 20 other sharpened pencils.

"Who is _that_?" she spat, pointing to Tim, who shrunk down into Dick's shoulder.

Dick took a deep breath, willing his voice not to shutter. He had fought the Joker. Penguin. The Creeper. And a number of different weirdos. And yet this lady always seemed to send chills up his spine.

"This is my brother, Tim." he said, glad his voice came out strong.

Ms. Eagle stood from her chair and walked slowly towards Dick. Dick felt Tim tremor when he found that he could shrink no more into Dick. Dick tried to keep his posture strait and tall, if there was anything Ms. Eagle hated it was a slouching boy...and a tardy person...and someone who belched in public, and someone who scuffed their feet on the ground, among other things.

She stopped directly in front of Dick, looking down on him like she would if she were an actual eagle and he were a worm. She held out her hands expectantly and Dick had no choice but to push Tim towards her. Dick winced as Tim's nails dug into his shoulder in his attempt to stay with him, but Ms Eagle didn't even seem to notice.

She snatched Tim from Dick and placed him on her shoulder. Dicks entire body was tense. If she tried _anything_, i.e tossing Tim out the window, he'd punch her so hard in the nose she'd _really _think she were a bird.

And yet, she neither threw Tim towards the window, nor did she throw him onto the ground. No, instead, she tossed Tim up into the air...and caught him, only to do it again. Tim didn't look like he was having much fun being thrown into the air, but he did laugh at the stupid faces Ms Eagle was making while he was air born.

And then it got scary. She began to _laugh. _Not the crazy, creepy, laugh she probably did when she found out one of her students had been hit by a truck, but a soft, happy laugh. She caught Tim and began to tickle his stomach, making him holler with laughter.

Dick was odded out to say the least. He kept switching the legs he put his weight on, and fingered his chemistry pages.

"Why dont you get to class, Richard." she said, still laughing, "I'll watch your brother until the end of school."

No way could he get out of that so easy. He hadn't even explained _why _he had Tim with him. And yet there he was, handing her the baby bag and Tim's cereal, and turning to leave. Even as he closed the door behind him, he was still in shock. Torn between being happy he was off the hook and wanting to go back and get his 'brother' away from the mad-woman.

And then, he blinked in the empty room. The entire office was empty. Not one administer nor school receptionist was in the room. And just by chance, he had his infamous glove in his hoodie. Either things were looking up, or he was overreacting. Yesterday may have started out great, but it had gone down hill quite fast. And yet, here he was, smiling as he flawlessly copied Bruce's signature (something he had learned to do early in life) and scanned it on the office scanner.

He sent the file to his USB cable and then wrote up some lame excuse about being away on business with Bruce, pasting Bruce's signature onto the bottom and sending it to Ms Eagle's e-mail. And just like that, he was excused for a month.

He put his glove back in his hoodie pocket, peaked into Ms Eagle's office one last time, where she was playing patty-cake with Tim, and left for his chem class. Who knew Ms. Eagle had a soft spot for little kids?

The bell rang, signaling he had a good 5 minutes before he was late to class. Running to the door, he through it open, obviously hitting two girls in the face. He held his breath. Most girls here had boyfriends. Most boyfriends here, were big. Most big people here, wanted to knock his face in.

"Im sorry," he blurt, closing the office door.

Two girls, both red headed, rubbed there noses.  
"There you are, Dick." said one, that he instinctively knew was Barbara. "I was looking for you all morning."

"Sorry, Babs. Had some stuff to take care of."

The other redhead girl looked up and Dick immediately recognized her as the beautiful, exotic Kory.

"Richard!" she squealed, rushing to give him a hug. He hugged her back, albeit a bit awkwardly. His cheeks flushed pink as she beamed at him. "I did not know you went to this school." she excited.

"I didn't know you went here either." he said, returning her excitement. "When you said you were going to a new school I never expected-"

"I know!" she gushed.

"I take it, you two know each other." Barbara said, not bothering to smile through her annoyance.  
"Oh, yeah," Dick said "I've known her since...forever." he decided on. Not too specific and not too general either.

"I just met her today," Barbara said, her voice coming out through clenched teeth, "Can you believe she's never even _seen _a locker?"

"Yeah, Kory's from Tamaran...its...uh, in the Caribbeans," he said, his cover for her playing well "Her and her sister just got here a few days ago."

"Richard, hows Tim?" Kory asked, her green eyes wild with excitement. "Where is he?"

"You wont believe it," he told her "but Tim's with the principle. Apparently, she has a thing for kids, or maybe its just Tim."

"Most probably it was just Tim. She merely let you off the lure?"

Dick blinked at her. 'Off the lure'? What the heck did that mean?

"You mean, hook?" he asked her. She nodded obviously embarrassed about the incident. "Oh yeah," he said, smiling at her blush. "She's watching him for me."

"What about tomorrow?"

"I'm out for the rest of the month."

"That is so earthen!" she laughed, and Dick couldn't help but laugh at her expression.

Barbara tried to follow the conversation, she really did, but she was pretty lost. What was Dick off the hook from? Who was Tim? Where was Tamaran? And why was Ms Eagle doing something nice?

Already, Barbara wasn't very fond of _Kory. _Since the year had first started, she and Dick had been pretty tight. He was a super-smart-still-cool guy, and she was the pretty-no-nonsense-popular girl. They were the perfect friends. And now, theres this _Kory _girl. Already, she could see that Kory would be a ditsy-pretty-perfect-rich girl. Not to mention the fact that she was exotic. _EXOTIC! _Who the heck could compete with a beautiful _exotic _girl.

No one knew Dick better than Barbara. Sure, Dick could be closed sometimes, but she was his best friend. Well, other than some Wally guy, but Dick probably hardly ever saw the guy...who ever he was.

Dick was out on nights a lot and claimed his dad had him on a tight leash, but they were still close. Really close, right?

"When you left that night," Dick laughed "I felt so horrible, letting you go out alone. It was practically 3 in the morning and you were riding a motorcycle in the dark."

Okay, so _Kory _had been with Dick one night, while Barbara was always kicked out at 8 on the dot. That was no big deal right? Alfred was probably just to tired to care that night, right?

Oh forget it, she thought to herself, this Kory girl knew Dick a lot better than she did. Kory obviously was a lot closer than Bruce and Alfred, too. She knew whoever Tim was and was a lot more in tuned with what Dick did in his like. Plus...she called him Richard. Normally, he hated when people called him his real name, it reminded him of his parents. And yet, _Kory _was allowed to call him that.

But, she wasn't giving up on Dick that easy either. They were best friends. She watched Dick as he talked to Kory, his face a light shade of pink, just shades lighter than Kory's. Fine, if he wanted to _like _this _Kory _then fine. Barbara'd just have to remind him of all the reasons she was wrong for him.

"Guys, we _do _have class." Barbara said, cutting in on their conversation.

Both Kory and Dick looked at her, like a pleading child would look to his mother if he wanted to stay just five more minutes at the park.

"What class do you have?" Dick asked "I'll take you."

Of course, and for the millionth time in the past 4 minutes, Kory beamed. "Chemistry."

"Me, too." Dick said, "We can walk together. I'll see you in algebra," Dick said, walking away and looking back to Barbara.

"Yeah, algebra." she said, more to herself than anyone.

Dick couldn't help but glance Kory's way while they walked down to class. She just seemed to radiate positive energy. A bit of a geeky observation, but he felt it was true to her very sole. He wanted to tell her that. Tell her that she made him smile, even when he had only met her that previous night and most of it he was in terrible pain. He wanted to tell her that she was beautiful and that she brightened even the darkest things around her. But he had no idea how to tell her this without literally, scaring her away.

A tall girl pushed passed them, papers falling from her hands as she ran to her class. Dick hadn't even thought about the time.

"We got to go," he said, grabbing her hand and running down the hall.

If he didn't hurry, he'd have plenty of time to scold himself over grabbing her hand in detention. And yet, she didn't seem to mind. She intertwined their fingers, just barely keeping up with him and letting him pull her along.

Dick barely stopped, turning a corner, but froze when he saw it was crowded with people. He look back to Kory, who had an enormous smile on her face.

"If we dont hurry, we'll be late. Why are you smiling?" he asked, willing his face not to feed into its instincts and smile along with her.

"What is wrong, Richard?" she teased playfully, "Cant take a challenge."

She knew her words were dangerous, Robin _never_ turned down a challenge. But she smiled when he returned her grin, silently taking on the dispute.

She felt his hand tighten around hers and before she could register why, Dick was sprinting. She could hardly keep up before, but now...wow. He jumped over people. Ducked under others. Dodged others. And just plain pushed others aside.

She laughed, almost enjoying the feeling and rush of danger. She'd be in serious trouble if she got detention on her first day of earth school, but somehow, the thrill of being in trouble added to the fun. She knew Dick wouldn't let anything bad happened to her, and at the rate they were going, she bet they'd be in class pretty soon.

Her laughing turned into a high pitched squeal when Dick stopped suddenly, causing her to crash into whatever he was trying to avoid. Both her and Dick fell onto their backs, fingers still intertwined, and brain completely rattled.

Both Dick and Kory's eyes widened as they realized just what...who, they had crashed into. Not only was it the largest kid in high school, but also the one with the largest butt, which was exactly what they had rammed.

A loud rumbling filled the air and Dick and Kory's eyes followed the kid they hit as he held his butt and rushed into the neighboring bathroom. Kory slowly turned to Dick, as he slowly turned to her. For a moment, they were silent. But then Kory giggled, and before they knew it, they were both laughing so hard it hurt their sides.

Dick's laugh was the most precious, most adorable, geeky, and still coolest laugh Kory had every heard. It was teasing and kind at the same time. She had no idea how he made it sound like it did, but it seemed to echo off of the hallways walls and return just for her.

As Kory laughed, Dick couldn't help but laugh some more. It was so girly and cute that it made his head spin. Normally, the girly girls of the world made him sick, but somehow, Kory's laugh made him feel...light. Completely in control of things despite laying in a crowded hallway while he was in the midst of being late for class.

Once his laughing subsided, he helped Kory up, just noticing their still locked fingers. He made a move to separate them, but she held tight, and he didn't argue.

For one, he had no idea _why _he hadn't seen the big kid with the odd gas in the hallway...he and his butt was kind of hard to miss. But really, he'd do it again just to hear Kory's laugh. It was _way _tomelodious to be real. Maybe, all aliens were like this. Well, no, he had met many aliens in his life. Maybe, it was just the Tameranian race. And even as Dick thought this, he doubted it. No one, not on Tamaran and definitely not on earth, was like her.

Kory screamed and Dick's head whipped back to her. A girl with brown hair that was tied in pigtails looked as if she were ready to cry and explode all at the same time. She held a cup of coffee and was staring at Kory's shirt, most of which was covered in a lot of the coffee the girl had spilt.

"I am, like _so _sorry, new girl." she said, wiping Kory's shirt, like that would somehow magically make the stain go away. "I was, like, not looking where I was walking."

"Thats alright." Kory said, laughing. _Actually _laughing. "It'll come out in the wash."

The girl nodded, rushing down the hall.

"Would you hate me if I requested a bathroom break?" she asked, look at him.

Dick shook his head, "No problem."

He led her to the nearest bathroom and waited outside. Leaning back on the wall, he was a bit surprised when he saw Barbara come around the corner. Putting it mildly, she looked _pissed. _Dick could only guess why. Bad grade. Jerk of a class. Bad hair day. Some kind of typical girl drama.

He met her halfway, prepared to ask what was wrong and get a thorough explanation. But, when Barbara approached him, she wasn't in the mood to talk. Instead, she shoved him hard against the wall.

"Whatever you heard, its wrong." Dick said, struggling with her hold.

"Your a jerk you know that?" she asked.

Her eyes seemed three shades darker and Dick could tell she wanted some kind of answers and fast. It really wasn't in her nature to just go up and pin someone to a wall, well, it wasn't in her nature to pin _him _to a wall. They were friends.

"What did I do?" he asked innocently. Honestly, he had been pretty good lately. No school pranks, no fire drills, no nothing. He couldn't be caught doing something he didn't do.

"What do you mean, what did you do? It not what you _did _do, Dick. Its what you _are _doing."

"Still lost." he said, flinching when she held her hand up, seemingly to hit him.

She dropped him from her grasp, but made no move to move away. She was fairly short, making them around the same height, and still, she seemed to look down upon him.

"That...that...that _thing, _you hang around with. Who is she?"

Okay, this was bad. Barbara _never, _repeat _never, _stuttered or faulted in her words. _Never. _He must have been in serious trouble...but wait, did she just call Kory a _thing?_

"Kory's not a _thing, _Barbara. She's my friend."

"I bet you just met her!" she screamed, aggravated.

While Dick and Kory had ventured off to class, Barbara couldn't help but follow them. It was when he had grabbed Kory's hand that her blood began to boil. They raced down the hallways laughing and giggling; completely out of character for Dick.

He was falling for someone who wouldn't stick around, and she had to stop Dick before he hit rock bottom.

"Richard, im talking to you." she snapped, when he didn't respond.

He looked at her oddly, seemingly half angry and half surprised.

"Yeah," she said, "I did it. I just called you Richard..._in _public. Sue me!"

"Whats wrong with you?" he asked. In the half of year he had known her, she was calm and collected, much like Kaldur. Not screaming like a banshee.

Never had she snapped at him, especially over something...someone. Why, for the love of him, she hated Kory was beyond him. He'd of thought the two of them would get along great. Both girls. Both red heads. Whats not to get?

"Whats wrong with me?" she said, clearly offended, "You ditch me for some ditsy-pretty-perfect-rich girl, that's what!"  
"Okay first," Dick said. His own blood was beginning to boil. Barbara hardly knew Kory and already she had her mind made up, "You just met her. Second, I didn't ditch you. I went to class. Third, why the heck does any of this matter?"

"How can you just choose her over me?" Barbara said, walking around in a circle and thinking,"Clearly you and I are meant to be together. I mean, I know the age thing bothers your dad but-"

"What?" Dick asked.

She was mumbling now, but he picked up a few words that rose suspicion. Like? What was she talking about?

"What?" Barbara asked, completely clueless. But inside, she was kicking herself.

How could she say what she did out loud? He had heard her, and that was not how things went in her mind. Okay, she was a few years older than him, but what did it matter? She tried to see him as a little brother, she really did, but it didn't work. She had this tingling feeling in her stomach that told her she couldn't, and never would, be able to see Dick as just a friend.

She had waited for Dick to make the move. She wanted him to be the one to move the relationship forwards, not her. But how could that happen, if she blurted out everything to him.  
"What did you just say?" he asked again, his ears totally in tune now.

He was too far in his own mind when she started talking. But he knew, deep down, she had said something she hadn't meant and it annoyed him to no end not to know what it was.

"I apologize for being so lengthy," Kory said, coming out of the bathroom...and right into a stare down.

Dick looked pretty confused, but curious and odded out at the same time. It was a cute expression on him. But then their was Barbara. When Barbara had come up to her when she arrived in the limo, she had been really nice. Barbara had showed Kory the office and helped her open her locker. Barbara was in the midst of taking her to her chemistry class, before they were hit in the face by the office door.

The kind, sweet, Barbara seemed to be no-where to be found now, though. She seemed peeved off about something. She considered Barbara her friend, and Dick was _certainly _her friend. And it being Kory, she felt the need to help her friends get along.

Barbara took a step towards her. Then Dick did. And soon, it seemed as if they were in a silent race to reach Kory first. Stepping back a few feet, Kory held her hands to her chest, completely unsure of what was going on.

Richard reached her first, standing in front of her protectively.

"Your making a mistake, Dick." Barbara said, shaking her head.

"I _still _dont know what your talking about, Barbara." Dick said.

He generally was confused. Why didn't she like Kory? Kory was amazing, Barbara was crazy. Simple.

"Am I causing a problem?" Kory asked, naively. Obviously, she was a root in this situation.

"More than you know," Barbara said, and Dick took this as a good time to leave.

He grabbed Kory's hand again, leading her down the hallway. He glanced back at Barbara one last time before he and Kory turned the corner.

The bell rang and Barbara was officially late, and still, she walked down the hallway, smiling.

The confrontation hadn't gone exactly how she thought it would, but Dick had looked back at her. He still cared about her. He wasn't ditching her, exactly, but he still cared and that mattered.

Walking down the hallway she turned back towards the office, and ran right into Ms Eagle.

"Im sorry," she blurted. The old lady scared her.

"Not a problem, Ms Gordon." she said, cheerfully, "Get to class, now."

Barbara watched as Ms Eagle dumped an empty cereal bowl in the trash can. It wasn't until she turned to the side, that Barbara noticed she was carrying a little boy. From what she could see, the boy was _adorable. _He had dark black hair and bright blue eyes. He was playing with the thin strands of Ms Eagles hair and giggling immensely.

Then, Barbara backtracked. Yes, she was sure of it. Ms Eagle had been smiling and laughing. Okay...awkward.

* * *

A/N: How did I do? Not to bad, waaay bad? I dont know, so _you _guys have to tell me. Deal? Dont forget, to read my other W.I.P. (work in progress) A Test of Faith.

Stay whelmed my friends, stay whelmed.

_ScarletDrake


	4. Picking Up Strays

THUNDER FINGERS! My new nickname. Fits? Or maybe not, that's okay.

Anyway, I totally ditched my grandma for this chapter. IT WAS ALL FOR YOU GUYS! The least you could do is review, or...you could send my grandma a 'I'm sorry note' (make sure everything is spelled correctly), but I doubt she'd really care.

Anyway, you guys dont know how much I appreciate your reviews. The other day, I read one and my sister came in on me. She looked at my smiling face and just turned around and left. She came back with my brother Bryce, and they seriously was asking me what was wrong. Truly concerned. They thought I had cracked. Huff, they dont know the joy.

Okay, I'm actually working on yet another story, but its not posted yet, (I'll let you guys know when). Normally, I like to work on one thing at a time; you know, give it my full attention, but lately I've been having epiphanies. It's like I go to sleep one night and **BAM **idea. Then the next night **POW **there it is. I cant help myself.

Oh and Special Thanks to Reina Grayson!

Well, anyways, enjoy. I own nothing.

* * *

-_-YJ-_-

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Barbara knocked twice on Ms Eagle's door, going in quietly. Ms Eagle was holding a sleeping boy, his black hair wild and his face calm.

"I'm here for Tim." Barbara said sweetly.

Ms. Eagle wordlessly put the boy in Barbara's arms and hung the baby bag on her shoulder.

"_This, _is Tim?" she asked, skeptically.

Really, she hadn't expected a _kid. _She just wanted to know who this Tim person was. She had hoped Ms Eagle would point him out and she could make a mental note to remember who he was. But now that she had this kid, she wasn't sure what to do with him?

"Thank you." she said sweetly, leaving the office.

Brandon would know what to do with him.

Dick rushed down the hallway. He was so late. He could have left his American's Nation class early if his stupid teacher Mr. Klear hadn't asked him some stupid questions about the Bessemer Process Network. Dick was smart, but by no means did he _enjoy _teaching his teachers.

Slamming his locker closed, he jetted to the office. Tim was probably having a cow now. All throughout out the day, Ms Eagle would call him down to the office because Tim was crying non-stop, only to stop the moment he entered the room. He and Kory had spent both their lunch and free time just looking at Tim while he played with Ms Eagle. When he had a pop quiz and couldn't leave, they had to send for Kory who did just as good a job calming Tim.

He threw open the office door and went straight to the back, knocking on Ms Eagles door, numerous time.

She opened the door, annoyed with his feverish knocks. Dick tried to look into the room, waiting to see the dark haired boy that adored him so much.

"Wheres Tim?" he asked, not seeing any running boys in the room.

"Your girlfriend came and got him." she said, calmly, walking around him and going to the water dispenser.

"What girlfriend?" he asked, afraid.

He didn't have a girlfriend. He _never _had a girlfriend. Who the heck came and took Tim and why was Ms Eagle fine with it? She was an adult, didn't she know you never turned children over to strangers? Tim would scream his head off if someone other than him and Kory grabbed him.

"The redhead. Forgot her name, sweet girl."

Dick breathed a sigh of relief. The redhead, sweet girl. Obviously, Kory. That explains why Tim was fine with leaving. It seemed that both of them was attracted to the foreign girl.

He left the office calmer, but still in a rush.

Wally always got angsty when Robin was late. It either ended up with his school flooded with police (something that happened a few times) because Wally was afraid he had gotten kidnapped. The only thing that came out of that was the fact that the police no longer listened to Wally when he called now. Or Wally showing up at the school himself, waiting to pick Dick up. Neither was a good thing. He needed to stay under the radar for about a month, and Wally didn't need to know Dick had Tim with him.

Turning down a hallway, he ran straight into Kory.

"Richard!" she screamed, throwing her arms around him for the twentieth time that day. "Thank goodness you are here. Where on _earth _is the exit?"

Dicks cheeks went pink, for the twentieth time that day. But he quickly pushed all previous thoughts away. He saw no pudgy, waddling kids. No dark headed, blue-eyed children. No Tim.

"Wheres Tim?" asked frantic.

"What do you mean?" she asked, fear in her eyes but an accusing look on her face. "Richard-"

"Don't Richard, _me."_he said, frustrated "_Your _the one who picked him up from the office."

"Richard I cant even find the exit, let alone the the office."

Dick stared at her for a moment. Someone was lying, they had to be. Ms Eagle said his girlfriend. Redheaded, sweet...Kory...right? Or maybe...Barbara.

"Barbara has my brother." he said in a daze, his eyes fixed on nothing particular. Judging by the incident earlier, she probably wasn't going to be in a friendly mood.

"Then we must search for Barbara," Kory said, pulling his hand down the hall.

She was a bit surprised he referred to Tim as his brother, but Kory thought it was extremely cute. He rescued this kid not two days ago, and yet, he had formed this tight bond with him. From what she knew of Robin and Dick Grayson, both were very private people, neither having many friends or forming bonds easily. And yet here was Dick, calling a stranger his brother.

She came to a split in the hallway, glancing down to see a group of kids coming. She stopped, pushing a still dazed Dick back down the hallway and staying by the corner. There were some _really _big guys there and her sister had warned her to stay away from big guys. For whatever reason, Kory stuck to her sisters advise.

"No, I swear, she was laughing and smiling." Barbara said, passing Tim to Brandon, a large quarter back.

"Your lying Barb," he said shaking his head, and passing Tim to Mickey, another football player "Ms Eagle doesn't laugh; she breathes irregularly while trying to talk at the same time. See, the sound must of confused you."

"You idiot," Barbara said, hitting his arm, "I know what I saw and heard, and yet, I still dont know whats so special about this kid."

"He's kind of cute," said Marlee, Brandon's idiot girlfriend. Her brown hair up in pigtails and a large fresh cup of coffee in her hands. "I think even Ms Eagle likes _cute _kids."

"Please dont say that," Mickey objected "Her being my principle and you saying that creeps me out."

They all shared a shutter.

"Go find that redhead girl," said Kimberly, Brandon's girlfriend "the natural one. I thought I saw her talk to him at lunch."

"Please dont mention _her, _Kim." Barbara glared.

"Oooohhhh," Brandon and Mickey chorused "Someone afraid a certain new student is going to steal her little boyfriend?"

"Shut up," Barbara snapped, "Besides, in my world the word 'competition' doesn't exist. I am neither threatened, nor afraid of _it._"

"It?" asked Marlee asked confused "I thought she was a 'she'."

Brandon put his arm around her and shushed her calmly, "She is a 'she'," he explained "Barbara just doesn't like her because her and her little boyfriend are better companions."

"Barb, that kids a kid. Why do you even hang out with him?" Kimberly asked, "He's obviously smart and _may _one day grow up to be cute, but right now; he's only a boy."

"You dont know him then," Barbara objected.

"And obviously, neither do you." Kimberly shot back "I say let the little boy have the little girl. Your _our _friend Barb. We dont need you hanging out with the kindergartners, too."

Kory listened, not quite understanding all of what it meant, but knowing Barbara evidently didn't like her very much. Which was a shame, Kory was so sure her and Barbara would be really good friends.

She turned, shaking Dick's shoulders roughly. She had seen Tim in one of the guy's hands. She knew she couldn't just take Tim from them, especially with Barbara leading and not really liking her.

"Richard!" she whispered hectically, "Richard, do the snapping out of it."

Dick blinked a few times, finally gaining some focus to his eyes.

"I have located Tim," Kory whispered.

Dick didn't waste any time asking where. Kory pointed, trying to explain the situation, but Dick's mind was far to focused for him to even hear what it was she was saying.

He walked around the bend, his mind set. Kory felt a sudden urge to cover her eyes. She had watched the big guys throughout the day. They were _not _nice people. Would they try and hit Richard? Hurt Tim because Richard had stood up to them? And yet, he seemed the least bit concerned.

Feeding off his confidence a bit, Kory stepped around the bend with him. She kept forgetting, she also had _Robin _to protect her.

"Speaking of the squirt," said the big one, she knew as Brandon, "Hey, its new girl too."

"Thats Kory." Kory corrected. If she was going to be insulted or looked down upon, they would at least know her name.

"What are you doing here, runts?" asked a girl who Kory instantly knew was the girl who had spilled coffee on her shirt. The stain was still there, just less noticeable.

"The boy," Dick said, motioning to the still sleeping Tim. Brandon had him in one of his huge arms, cradling Tim with surprise expertise.

"What about 'em?" asked Kimberly. Popular, Kory noted, cheerleader, lots of friends, pretty, and _very _very conceded.

"Thats my brother." Dick clarified.

The entire group seemed to shrink back a bit. Barbara had never wanted to disappear more in her life. She hadn't known Dick had had a brother, much less that he'd bring him to school. Barbara felt like a criminal...or worse yet, a thief. She had gone to Ms Eagles office and practically _stolen _her best friends brother. And yet, Kory had known. Kory had known everything.

Again, Barbara felt like she was pushed to the outskirts of Dick's life.

Everything was all wrong. She wasn't supposed to be the reason Dick was standing there, looking angrier than she had ever seen. She wasn't supposed to be across from him, she was supposed to be beside him...where Kory was. She wasn't supposed to _still _be just his friend.

"Your brother!" exclaimed Marlee, "I didn't know Barbara was your brother!"

Brandon placed his arm around her, quietly explaining the situation.

"Give him to me." Dick growled.

Kory felt an unnerving urge to take a step away from him. The feeling was...well, unnerving. She hadn't known Dick for that long, but judging by Barbara's face, he didn't get very angry often. All the more reason for these brutes to give Tim to Dick.

"Or what?"Brandon asked, totally unaware that he was challenging Batman's protege.

Dick didn't respond, but he cast a sideways glance at Kory, who looked back with understanding. Dick threw his heavy book bag on the floor, and Kory copied his move. She didn't and wouldn't expect these guys to just hand over something precious to both her and Dick. In their minds, it was a sign of weakness. They didn't know how determined Dick was. They didn't know he never turned down a challenge. They didn't know, he'd get his brother back.

A silent timer went off in Dick's head. Without warning, he and Kory rushed forwards. He was pretty confident Kory had some type of plan of some sort, but his main motive was separating Tim, from Brandon.

Mickey jumped in front of Brandon, like some kind of body guard. It almost amused Dick that they thought of him as threat, but at the moment, nothing could amuse him.

He jumped up with his left leg, putting all his weight forwards. In the air, he put his right hand on Mickey's shoulder, pushing off again into the air and towards Brandon. While doing flips, watching something isn't exactly easy, but he did catch a glimpse of the teens faces. Shocked beyond belief no doubt.

He landed in front of Brandon, throwing a swift kick to Brandon's solar plexus. Of course, Brandon wasn't expecting that and Dick was able to grab Tim quite easily. He hoped over the bent over Brandon and turned swiftly, looking for Kory.

Surprisingly, she was right beside him. Looking behind her, Dick realized all the girls, including Barbara, was laying on the group either out completely or rubbing their heads.

Tim began to cry, woken up by the commotion and movement. In Dick's attempt of trying to calm Tim down, he hadn't noticed Brandon recover and charge at him.

Dick took a step back, prepared to throw in a last minute kick to the face or probably just trip him since he didn't have time for something more effective, but in the end, he hadn't needed to. Kory stepped up, looking like a butterfly in the midst of a wolf.

And yet, as soon as Brandon made it close enough, she grabbed him by the hand and spun quickly. With a grunt, she threw Brandon over her head and good few feet down the hall, where he lay, stunned.

For a moment, Dick didn't understand what exactly had just happened, but Kory snapped him out of it pretty quick. They ran back down the hall, grabbing their bags and the baby bag on the way. Dick burst through the back exit, spotting his motorcycle quickly.

Shouts from Mickey and Brandon was close behind as Dick jumped on his motorcycle. He passed Tim to her and she climbed on behind him. Tim was squished between Kory and Dick, but he was still so tired he didn't even care. Dick handed Kory his helmet and put the other on Tim, revving the engine.

Brandon had just reached him when he sped off out the parking lot.

Dick stopped at a nearby Starbucks. He usually stopped in for a hot chocolate and at the moment, he was pretty sure Kory and Tim wouldn't mind one either.

"The usual?" asked a pretty woman with curly black hair, as he walked in. Her skin was dark but her eyes held a light that could brighten anyone's day.

"Make it three, Carla." he said, casually sitting in a window seat with Tim in his lap.

Dick was finally able to catch his breath. Tim was safe, Kory was fine, and Barbara... Well, he wasn't necessarily sure what to think about her. She had stood there while her 'friends' tried to beat up on him and Kory. She hadn't said anything along the lines of 'Just give him his brother' or anything. He was almost glad she had gotten her butt kicked by Kory.

"That was so earthen!" Kory exclaimed.

He figured that that would be a typical line with her now. Along with the odd language mess-ups and her struggle with the English language. He didn't mind though, it was cute.

"Can you believe the looks on their faces?" she gushed, laughing that beautiful laugh. "They were completely surprised we did not break down and cry right there."

Dick laughed. They did look a little shocked to see them _actually _fighting back. "How about their faces when we pulled off." he added, making Kory laugh even harder.

"Here you go, Dick." Carla said, placing three coffee cups on the table.

"Thanks Carla." he said, opening the top for Tim's to cool off.

He stared out the window, dark clouds coming in with a menacing look.

"That was definitely 'notonous'." he said, taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

Kory looked at him oddly.

"That, is an expression, yes?" she asked, completely confused.

"Well," Dick started, adjusting the way Tim was on his lap, "Not really. I actually just made up that word."

Kory was still looking at him oddly.

"Ok," he said, ready to explain "The base word, monotonous-"

"Meaning boring, yes?" Kory asked.

"Yeah, well, I took the prefix of the word, which is 'mono' and took it out, just leaving 'notonous'. The way I figure it, the mono part means the boring part of the word-"

"-and by taking it out, you change the meaning?" she asked.

Dick nodded his head.

"So, if monotonous means boring..." she said, making sure she had it right "then notonous means, exciting?"

"Exactly!" he said, laughing.

He could count on one hand how many people got the meaning of his words. And that was only because there was none. Well, one. Zatanna had gotten the meaning of chalant, which won her mega bonus points in his mind of friends. He had only known Zatanna for a few weeks, but she was his friend nonetheless. It was nice having someone understand him like Kory and her did.

Tim screeched, pushing his hot chocolate away and blowing air out his mouth, like that would somehow de-burn it.

"Tiiim," Dick whined "I pushed it away because it was hot and I was letting it cool off."

Dick picked up the cup Tim had knocked over in his haste to separate himself as far from the hot beverage as possible. He followed the spilt liquid all the way to Kory's lap, where drops were still dripping on her pants.

They both shared a look. Kory's new pants stain would be a lovely addition to the coffee stain on her shirt. Even with her clothes ruined, she still smiled and stood up.

"I will return momentarily," she said, making her way to the bathroom.

Carla came over, expertly cleaning up the spill and replacing Tim's cup with a fresh...cooler one.

Dick had to hold the cup and straw so that Tim wouldn't push it over again. Dick's phone rang and immediately, he knew who was calling. He was late to the cave after all.

"Hi Wally."

"Duuuuuude, where are you! M'gann wont let us watch _any _movies until you get here." Wally screamed.

Dick was used to Wally being hyper, even super hyper, like when he ate cookies or those snicker doodles his mom told him not to eat, but at the moment, Wally sounded _extremely _hyper.

"What are you eating?" he asked. Wally _had _to be doing something he wasn't supposed to.

"Eating? Who said anything about eating?" Dick had to pull the phone away because Wally laughed really loud into the mouth piece. "What makes you think im eating? Anyway, just get here. Or should I call the police. Because I can-"

"-No Wally. You don't have to call the police."

"Its no problem, man. Just let me call up detective Montoya and lure that fat guy Harvey Bullock away and I can get her there in seconds flat-"

"No Wally. I do not need you to call anyone. I'm fine. On my way actually."

"I should come and get you. A pretty nasty storm is heading our way and you dont need to get caught in it. Just let me get on my shoes-done... I'll be there in-"

"-NO WALLY, IM FINE."

"Alrighty then, if you say so. But really, if you just let me make the 9/11 call id be sure to-"

"Wally listen carefully."

Dick waited for Wally to go silent. "You listening?"

"Yeah man, its kind of a requirement if you want to talk on the phone."

"Ok, grab a pill, right?"

"...right?"

"Chill the pill, right?"

"...right?"

"Then eat it, okay?"

"I get you mean take a chill pill but why on earth must you make everything so dang complicated? I mean, not only do you kill the English language, but you just got to bruise the decade old expressions and what not too. Its just mean you know."

"Wall's? I got ta go, okay?"

"Just hurry man, im bored as crap."

"Considering crap is dead, you probably meant the expression bored to death."

"See? Bruised decade old expression!"

"Bye, Wally."

"Oh, and bring some snicker doodles!"

_He knew it. _Those things always made Wally loopy.

Kory came back and sat down. Her clothes were a stained mess, and yet, she was still beautiful.

"Friend of yours?" she asked, her eyes shining with mirth.

"Yeah,"

"I could hear him from the bathroom." she smiled.

"Oh yeah, Wally's a bit...hyper."

Tim struggled in Dick lap until he put him down. Dick watched, amused, as Tim waddled around. He had been interrupted from his nap and was still probably tired, but Dick couldn't tell whether that was the reason he was waddling or not. Shaking his head, he grabbed Tim empty cup and trashed it.

A light ringing sound filled the cafe and Kory picked up her phone. The ring fit her; light, happy, and beautifully written.

"Greetings." she said, her voice cheery.

"_Please dont say greetings, Kory. Hello, works fine."_

"Hi sister," she said, walking to the back of the cafe for privacy.

"_Your not home yet."_

"Oh, I know. I meant to call, but got distracted. I went to the cafe with a friend."

"_Right. Well, anyway, when are you getting here?"_

"Most probably within the half of this hour. Is something wrong?"

"_Extremely."_

Kory knew when her sister was upset...and now was no exception. When Koma got upset, nothing gave it away really. But Kory knew that the calm, simple sentences meant she was actually pissed off about something.

"Whats happened?"

"_Oh nothing really, just the fact that my motorcycle was not where it always was."_

"What do you mean?"

"_Kory, you know how well I care for that bike. It was moved, exactly 1.4 millimeters to the left."_

"Maybe...you bumped it?"

Kory tried to calm herself. When she had 'borrowed' the bike to help Dick and Tim, she had been so sure she put it back the way Koma had left it. But apparently, she was 1.4 millimeters off. Stupid Koma and her stupid genius brain.

"_Kory, you **know **I dont 'accidentally' bump my bike. Where did you take it?"_

"Me? Take _your _bike? No sister, not me."

Lying was bad, but she needed to stay on her sisters good side.

"_Don't lie to me Koriand'r, I did a finger print scan and found your hand prints...and two others."_

"Two? But we are so new here, I hardly know anyone. Who would I take?"

"_Who are you at the cafe with?"_

Silence.

What would she tell Koma? She had used her full name, another tell that she was pissed off. She needed to think. The silence alone was giving her away already. What would happen if she just confessed? Would Koma prefer that over the lies?

"_Kory? You still there?"_

"Uh...yeah, I was...merely paying for the hot chocolate."

"_Oh, well, I know you took my bike."_

Kory couldn't take it. She was a bad liar, and felt even worse _from _the lie.

"Koma I am sorry. I needed it to save a friend and his brother. You know on the news about the riot down town, I-"

"_Save it Kory. I already knew you took it, I just needed to hear you admit it. That way I wouldn't feel so bad."_

"Feel so bad? About what?"

"_About locking you out the house of course."_

"What are you talking about?"

"_The house Kory. You know, the big one we **live in**? Yeah, im locking you out."_

"Over a bike? Koma, do not forget I have a key."

"_**Had **a key. I already replaced the locks."_

"You underestimate me, Koma. You _know _a lock can not keep me out."

"_I'm no idiot Kory, I know what you can do. So I took...extreme...measures to make sure you cant get in."_

"Koma, it is not like I crashed your bike-"

"_Doesn't matter, little sister. You took it without permission and now you know not to mess with my stuff."_

"Ok, Kom, I leaned my lesson. Now please let me in."

"_Nope. If I were you, id ask whoever was **deathly **important to save, if you could spend a few nights there."_

"Koma, how long are you planning to keep me out of _my _house."

"_Well, for as long as I feel like it of course."_

"Wait, Koma you cant just-"

"_Ta-ta little sister."_

"Koma-"

She stopped, the click on the other end signaling the end if the call. Was she really just kicked out of her own house? She knew her sister and her didn't get along very well, but really? She would never kick her **sister **out of the house, but then, maybe that was one of the reasons they didn't get along. They were so vastly different.

"You okay?" she jumped out of her mind when Dick talked to her.

He was standing right in front of her and she wasn't sure whether he used some kind of ninja technique or she was just that far in her mind.

"I am fine." she said, throwing on a bright smile. Phony...but bright.

"You didn't sound fine. Was that your sister?"

Oddly enough, she didn't mind his prying. It made her feel special, wanted, and even needed. On her planet, people were concerned about her safety and health, but never how she felt about anything. The worry they felt for her was only because of her job. She was meant to be seen, act polite, and help her people. Never had her feelings been involved in her life. And yet, Dick cared. She was sure he did.

"Yes, that was her. She is...upset that I borrowed her motorcycle."

"She rides, too?"

"It was her bike I borrowed last night."

Dick formed a 'o' with his mouth. He had been the one who had gotten her in trouble.

"I'm sorry," he started.

"It is not your fault. I'm glad I did it."

Dick scratched his calf with his other foot, trying to get the incredibly horrible itch to go away. He knew it was a sign that it was healing, but the itch was suddenly unbearable. He bent down, scratching feverishly, until Kory hit his arm.

"Don't scratch," she scolded "You'll break the scab."

He made a face, but continued to scratch with his other foot.

"Did she kick you out?" he asked suddenly, only to scold himself. It was none of his business, whatsoever. And yet, Kory didn't seem to mind his nagging and prying. He thanked her alien-naivety.

"Yes, but she does the 'coming around'," Kory said, her voice only a bit worried. "I will just wait until she goes to sleep tonight and try to break in."

Dick bit his lip. He knew what his mouth was longing to say but his brain said it was wrong. He wanted to say it, he knew he _could _say it. But he also knew it would be wrong to say it. What would Batman say? Or worse yet, Bruce? Bruce would understand, right? This girl had saved his life, twice over. Surely Bruce approved of repaying a favor.

"You...can stay with me." he said quickly, before his mind made him back down.

But then, she looked up and beamed at him, and all previous worries were gone. He couldn't help but smile back, a dumb lopsided grin on his face.

"But wait, your not going home. Your going to the cave right?"

"You can stay there," he said, anything to keep her smiling. But the smile diminished a bit. He hadn't meant to say the cave. There were _other _people at the cave. He couldn't just take a stranger...make that two to the cave.

"You'll be helping me," he said, half trying to convince himself, "Keep Tim out of sight and-"

The moment Tim's name left his mouth, he whipped his head around. He had left Tim sitting on the tall window chair when he went over to pay, soon realizing Kory had seemed upset. He had gone over, leaving Tim behind. And now, just as he expected, Tim was gone. The tall swivel chair spinning slowly, mocking Dick for his carelessness.

"Wheres Tim?" Kory asked, sensing his panic as well.

This was the second time, withing the hour, that Dick had lost Tim. Granted, the first time wasn't his fault, but this time it was. How could he make it a month, if he couldn't make it an hour?

"Outside," Kory said, pointing for emphasis.

Dick followed her pointed finger and sighed when he saw Tim talking to a girl.

Him and Kory walked out the cafe, and rushed to Tim.

"Look, kid, who are you with?"asked the girl.

"Oh, hey Raven." Dick said coming up.

He recognized her from school. She had short, shoulder length hair so dark it looked purple and purplish looking eyes to match. Putting it simply, she was scary...to everyone but Dick. He had grown accustom to so many horrors, that to him, Raven was as normal as Kory.

She pulled her jacket closer around her, but nodded in acknowledgment.

"Hi, Dick. Does he belong to you?" she asked, her voice cold and emotionless.

"Uh...yeah, he's my brother."

"He talks a lot." she said, eying the boy.

"Im Kory!" Kory said, her hand outstretched and a large smile plastered on her face. She must of _always _been eager to make new friends.

"Raven." Raven responded, but made no move to shake Kory's hand. "Have you talked to _him_?" she asked suddenly, looking to Dick.

He knew who _'him' _meant. Robin.

A days back, she had seen Dick get dragged down an alleyway. He had, of course, allowed it to happen. He couldn't just spring up and go all ninja on the jerks in the middle of the street, so he had opted to allow himself to get dragged to a secluded area. It was only a few thugs, and he took them out quickly and easily. Raven had run to the alleyway, prepared to help, only to find the guys knocked out cold.

He had made up some lame excuse about how Robin had swooped in and saved him. He had told her that him and Robin were pretty close (which was true) and that had led to her confessing about her odd powers that she couldn't control. She had practically begged him to talk to Robin and see if he could help her. He hadn't come up with anything yet, other than to maybe ask Black Canary for advise, but lately, Black Canary had been stuck in the cave.

"Dick, I really...need help." she said, a _tiny _bit of emotion coming through.

It was odd, seeing her pleading eyes. For as long as he had known her, she had _not _been the type to ask for help. Essentially speaking, she and him were around the same age. Whereas he had gotten into high school for his smarts, she had gotten in for her literature. He had never read anything by her, but apparently, her poems and stories were to die for. He had even seen his English teacher cry once over a poem she wrote.

"I...when?" he asked. They weren't close, but he was protective and willing to help by nature. What the heck, Kory and Tim were going to the cave, why the heck not her too?

"Whenever." she said excitedly.

Obviously, she hadn't expected him to come forwards so fast. In fact, she probably didn't expect him to come forwards at all. He couldn't count how many people claimed to know his alias.

"Is whenever like...whenever, because I can take you now." he said, already calculating how the heck he was going to pull this off exactly.

"Nows good," she said, "My dad wont care if I never come home."

_Ouch, _but okay. The less people worried about her disappearance, the better. Who knew how long she would be gone.

"Okay," he said, picking up Tim and passing him to Kory, "I'll give him a call and have him rendezvous with you in a moment. But right now, I really have to get home. I should be there already."

He gave Kory a knowing look and immediately knew she was aware of what was going on. He turned and ran a ways before Raven called him.

"Will he mind if I bring a friend?" she called.

"I dont know, ask him." he said, rounding a corner and disappearing down an alleyway.

To answer Raven's question, yes, he would mind. He was already dead for bringing Kory and Tim. Throw in Raven and that's about a good month of grounded time before he's killed by Bruce. Throw in _yet _another one of her friends and he mine as well turn in his cape and boots now.

Shaking his head, he jumped behind a dumpster so that he could change his clothes.

"Garfield Logan." Gar said, shaking Kory's hand just as eager as her.

"Kory Anders." she beamed.

"Victor Stone, little lady," said the boy she was now currently shaking hands with.

When Raven had said friend, she had really meant two. Not that _she _minded. She thought the two boys were nice. But _Robin _she was a bit concerned with. She knew you didn't just take people to whatever secret hideout he went to, and yet, he had been so willing to help them.

Garfield, she learned went to the same school she did. He was a genius with animal science. Victor was part of a sports program and he was at her school more often than not. Raven, she had never seen, but knew she went to her school as well. In her mind, she already saw the little group as her best friends.

She looked up at the dark sky as Victor and Garfield talked about food. The sky seemed to be getting darker by the minute. By chance, she glanced at a tall building, noticing a lone figure on top of it.

Even when she squinted her eyes, she couldn't make out the figure. He did a flip onto a lower building, and Kory caught sight of a cape trailing behind him. She knew immediately that this was Robin. He walked across the building, seemingly looking her way. Slowly, she followed him, walking in the same direction.

"Hey, where are you going?" asked Garfield running up beside her.

"I am following Robin." she said, simply.

Tim was beginning to fall asleep on her shoulder and she pushed him up higher.

"I dont see nobody," Victor argued, his head turned back and forth in his attempt to locate the boy wonder.

"He is on that roof," Kory stated, noticing that now Raven, Garfield, and Victor were squinting furiously, trying to locate Robin.

"Where?" Raven asked.

"Right _there._" she said, motioning with her head towards him.

Finally giving up, they shrugged and just followed Kory.

Kory was still new to Gotham and in reality had no idea where she was going. She just focused her eyes, trying not to be too obvious, and continued to follow Robin. Butterflies filled her stomach. She was going to his hangout. His _secret _hangout. She had no idea what to expect whatsoever nor who to expect it from.

"Where did Dick go?" Raven asked, snapping Kory from her mind.

"He...had to go home." Kory answered, trying to sound completely normal, "He had a lot of homework and his maids get nervous when he's late."

She hoped that sounded believable. She would hate to be the one who gave away Robin's secret. She had found out by accident, and swore to herself that she'd never tell a sole. Robin/Dick was her friend. Her first, truly real friend. She would not jeopardize that for anything.

She realized that Robin had stopped on top of a low building, right above an alleyway. Looking both ways, she crossed the street towards the alleyway. Whatever reason he led them _here, _was beyond her.

"Uh...Kory?" Garfield said, following her down the dark path. "Where are you taking us?"

She stopped at an abandoned phone booth, hugging Tim close to her.

"He was right-" she stopped, holding her own mouth so that she wouldn't scream.

She hadn't even noticed that he was right beside her, leaning against the same phone booth as she was. He smirked, and she knew that behind his mask, his eyes were filled with gaiety.

"Yo!" Victor screamed, just noticing Robin.

"Dude!" Garfield screamed, "I mean sir. I mean, sir dude. I meant, dude sir. Robin sir, I meant."

A street light bulb burst, and somehow, Kory knew Robin had snuck up on her too. Yet, her face betrayed that thought. She seemed normal, unaffected, by his sudden appearance.

"I...thought there was only three of you." he said, scratching the scab on his leg with his other foot.

"Raven brought a friend," Kory explained, "Two, friends."

"Uh huh," he said to himself, quickly wiping concern off his face. He was _so _dead.

Opening the abandoned phone booth, he gently took the phone hook off the wall and connected his USB cable to the wires.

"First things first, though. Technically, im doing a superhero crime right now. No one but the original seven Justice League members are allowed to bring in people who are not on the list. And seeing that I have a group with me, this may be our last encounter."

Subconsciously, he counted all the different ways Batman could kill or punish him. This was the dark knight he was talking about. Batman had torture written all over his cowl. Robin knew his soon to be death was going to be painful.

"It wouldn't be wise," he continued "If I put you in the system with your real names, so im going to need new ones. Raven, since your real name is Rachel, Raven can still work."

He typed wildly, his fingers flying over the holographic keys as he entered Raven's name. It took a bit of hacking to do this secretly, but he figured once he cleared the history, he'd be fine.

"Garfield?" he asked, turning to the teen.

Garfield was a little blown away that Robin..._The Robin..._knew his name.

"Robin, sir?" he asked, nervously.

"Your name?"

"Garfield?"

"No, your new name."

"Oh!" Garfield said, his nervousness temporarily gone, "I've been thinking about this for, like, ever. Okay, get this, Beast Boy!"

Everyone stared at him blankly for a moment.

"Beast Boy?" Robin asked, just to be sure.

"Yeah," Garfield argued, "It's a good name."

Robin rolled his eyes under his mask, but typed in the name and saved it.

"Victor?"

Vic scratched his hairless head. He was one of the only kids at the school who could pull off having no hair and still being attractive. He was loud, had a bit of a southern way to his words, but his heart was always out to helping other people. It had dawned on him, just a while back, that his athletic abilities weren't just because he trained hard. It was something else.

His endurance was through the roof, and he could do any rigorous activity much longer than an average person could. His strength was another thing. Just recently, it seemed to take a turn for the worst. He'd sit on the couch, only to have it snap under him. He had tripped in the hallway one day, throwing all the lockers off the hinges and to the floor in a loud heap. He had pulled the door off his refrigerator, and cracked most of the tiles in his kitchen. He feared that one day, he'd accidentally hurt someone. He needed advise on how to control this strength.

"Victor?"

He looked back up to Robin.

"Oh, right. My name. Well, uh..."

"How about, robot man!" Garfield screamed, only to be shushed by Robin. This was top secret stuff. "What?" he argued, "Robot man works, I mean, you got the strength and everything, just like one!"

"Robot man sucks." Robin said, leaning back against the wall, waiting.

"Then you try." Garfield said, crossing his arms.

"If you like the robot thing, then Cyborg would be your best bet. Robot strength and human appearance."

"Yeah okay, that is better." Garfield said, nodding his head.

"Cyborg it is." Victor said, pretty happy with the name.

Entering the name, he turned to Kory.

"Kory wont work here." he said, eying the sleeping boy. He would be up all night if he slept much longer.

"Starfire is...my name translated." she said, switching Tim in her arms.

"Starfire." Robin said, ignoring his blush and entering it. It was a good name for her.

He switched the zeta tube settings to silent mode for 5 minutes, then added Tim to the list quickly, before erasing the history and shutting down the system. He placed the phone back in its place and stepped out.

"Alright, who's first?"

He almost expected Garfield to jump up and down and raise his hand...which he did. Garfield stepped in.

"As soon as you get there, dont move, okay? Just wait for me." Robin said, closing the glass door.

"So," Garfield asked, his voice muffled by the glass "Am I going to shoot through the ground. Or shoot up in the sky. Or someth-"

His words were cut short by a flash of yellow light. Victor, Kory, and Raven gaped at the empty phone booth.

"Next." Robin said with a smile. He was greatly amused. Definitely 'notonous'.

* * *

A/N: Okay? Its done and so are my fingers. There practically falling off. But I'll take the pain if it means getting out more chapters. Plz review and make my sister and Bryce more concerned. It was kind of fun seeing him flip out. N also, read my other W.I.P (work in progress) A Test of Faith. I love you guys, **_Read and Review!_**

_ScarletDrake _  
_


	5. Home Sweet Mountain

Im close to tears, i really am.

But more seriously, im so sorry.

Sorry to everyone.

My computer broke at the beginning of the summer and it took me a long time to get a replacement laptop. Ever since, I've been typing on Violets laptop, but shes on like, 24-7 and i had to work around her schedule since its her laptop. So, I wont hold this from you any longer.

Its a bit shorter than the other chapters, but I just wanted to get this to you as soon as possible.

Read and Enjoy (ps: ignore errors please. My computer was set to fix a lot of my mistakes and it didn't feel right to change Vi's laptop to fit my needs.)

-_-As The World Falls Down-_-

* * *

Robins boots slipped and he nearly fell to the ground.

One more thing to add to the things Kory was capable of; super strength.

He tried to get her into the zeta tube, but her feet held fast. She was pretty convinced that once she entered the phone booth, she'd never leave it; which only fueled the fact that she refused to go into it.

"You'll be fine," he grunted, his hands pushing her back, "I promise."

"I will be fine here," she laughed nervously, "My sister will give in eventually."

"No," he argued, using his shoulder to push her instead of his hands, "Your coming with me."

She leaned back against him, trying to put distance between herself and the phone booth, but Robin took advantage of the moment. He kicked her knees in from behind her, careful not to make her fall too hard. He was just glad he had given Tim to Victor before he had went.

Kory's legs buckled and Robin was able to roll them both into the small space.

The blinding yellow light that followed always proved to catch Robin off guard. It was bright and in an instant, he and Kory were no longer in the cramped phone booth, but in the foyer of the cave.

It wasn't until Kory coughed that he realized he had rolled on top of her.

He knew his ears were turning colors, but he stood up fast trying to hold on to his last bit of dignity anyway. Within seconds, his keen eyes spotted Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy. They were clearly trying to hide behind one of the walls curtains (something Ms. Martian had put up because she had watched Amy Mathews do it on Sweat Equity), but Cyborg's heavy form, Raven's too still form, and Beast Boy's fidgeting gave them away pretty fast.

He helped Kory up, prepared to try and get the rest of the group out the main room unnoticeable, but him and Kory were suddenly surrounded by a twister of wind and colors.

Sighing that he'd have to explain the situation, he slunk down in his posture.

"Well its about time!" Wally screamed, stopping right in front of Robin and Kory, "I had my phone out and detective Montoya's number punched in."

"KF, I told you," he said with a roll of his eyes, "I'm fine. In case you haven't noticed, I'm pretty good with taking care of myself."

"I'm just saying man, people are crazy out there."

"If anyone, we'd know." Robin said, shaking his head at his friend.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just wanted to- who's that?"

Robin turned his head to Kory the same time Wally turned his head to Robin.

"KF, Starfire. Starfire, KF." he said, pointing to both of them.

"Dude-"

"I know," Robin interrupted Wally, "I know."

"What if-"

"It's not." Robin waved off.

"You know-"

"Gone for a month, remember?"

"How'd you-"

"Come on. I'm a hacker."

"But why-"

"She's here for Black Canary."

"Robin-"

"I'm just helping a friend, okay? She's got some haywire powers and needs some guidance. I was being a good Samaritan and was just taking her to Canary, alright?"

"Too late, man," Wally said, still eying Kory, "Canary just left with Arrow and Flash. They've got some mission or something to go on."

"What kind?" Robin asked. This was not exactly how things were supposed to go.

"No idea," Wally said, bouncing on his heels; his energy suddenly returning. "But I don't think they should be gone too long. They should be back tomorrow night, the latest."

Robin bit the inside of his cheek. What would he do with everyone until then? The team was expecting him to hang with them, but he couldn't just leave the rest of the guys alone. Where would he even take them?

"Earth to Robin?" Wally asked, waving his hand slowly in front of Robin's face.

Of course, Wally's idea of a slow waving hand was actually enough to create a small burst of air, sending a breeze throughout the room.

Robin tried to keep his cool as the breeze swept around, picking up the curtain Raven and her friends were behind. Raven look unaffected, but a pillow on the couch blew up into a a puff of white and brown feathers. Cyborg's eyes widened, and he held tighter to the sleeping Tim who was still in his arms. A small 'eep' could be heard from Beast Boy who soon turned into a green fly and tried to stay out of sight.

Robin didn't blink, hardly even glanced over, as the curtain resettled itself.

"KF can you do me a favor?" Robin asked, his attention back to the hyper speedster.

"Depends," Wally said, the very air around him vibrating with movement, "Is it dangerous and probably likely that I'll fall and embarrass myself?"

"Not a chance," Robin said, not entirely sure what he said was true.

Wally _did _have a habit of fallen and embarrassing himself.

"Then I'm on it." Wally said, appealed by a new task.

"I need you," Robin said, searching his numerous belt pockets, for the small bag he had brought at the cafe earlier "to take these to Miss Martian."

He handed the bag to Wally, already knowing the outcome of the following events and actions.

Just as he expected, Wally opened the bag, curiosity spilling off of him like an intrigued scent. Just as he expected, Wally's green eyes all but popped out of his head. And just as he expected, Wally squealed like a girl, all but forgetting Kory was watching his every move (and giggling profusely by now.)

"Snicker doodles, man!" he said, the air around him getting dangerously hot with his excited vibrating form.

"I know," Robin said, trying to sound nonchalant, "I promised Miss M id buy her some one day."

"You gotta let me have one."

Wally all but rolled on the floor, begging for just one of the cookies. Really, Robin never really liked the cookies. He blamed Alfred for spoiling him, but in reality, he just didn't think the cookies were good. They were much too complicated. Cookies were supposed to be simple and delicate treats. Chocolate chips (and the occasional white chocolate) was plenty enough action for a simple cookie.

"No way Wally," Robin said, receiving a pout from his friend, "You know what your mom says about those things. 'One day they'll drive you so crazy, you'll run right off the face of the earth.'"

Wally growled deeply, mouthing the words his friend had just recited. He _did _know them by heart. His mom was always like that when it came to sweets and him. She was just fine eating a sundae, or making an apple pie, or eating a cookie-cake. But when it came to his selection of sweet foods it seemed as if a _limit _was suddenly applied to the sugary snacks.

_Why was he denied the sweet privileges of regular children? He could burn them off 10 times as fast as a normal human!_

"Just one, Rob," he said, desperate, "Come on, for your bestest friend."

"Dude, bestest isn't even a word."

"ROBIN!" he yelled, his legs shaking with anticipation.

"No," Robin said, "Your mom would kill me. Now just please take them to Miss Martian, please."

"Fine." he grumbled, but Robin knew better.

As the speedster ran off, leaving hurricane 4 winds behind him, Robin grabbed Starfire's hand and made a break for the wall curtain.

He barely slowed down as Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Raven ran after him.

"We've got about 30 seconds to get somewhere far," Robin said, turning down a hallway.

"Why 30?" Cyborg asked, holding Tim's head down on his shoulder so that it didn't bob around.

"Because that's about as long as it takes KF to eat a whole bag of snicker doodles." Robin said, rounding yet another corner. "...if that."

"You guys are pretty close, aren't you?" Starfire asked, her question going unheard as the sound of claws resounded down the hallways.

Robin ushered everyone into a nearby coat closet. He knew those claw sounds.

A large white head popped around one of the hallways corners. The large heads blue eyes scanned the hallway quickly before settling on Robin.

With a great burst of energy and speed, the large wolf creature ran straight into Robin.

Robin was a lot of things. Smart. Agile. Cocky. Among other things. But strong, was not one of his specialties. So when the large wolf threw its weight onto Robin, Robin could do nothing but hope his falling on his back went unnoticed.

Wolf licked Robin's face without mercy. Something that Robin tried to wave off quickly.

He pushed wolf with his arms, trying to free himself from the animal, but wolf refused to get up. It wasn't until Superboy rounded the corner that Wolf actually allowed Robin some room to breathe. While Robin wiped at his wet, slobbery, face, Superboy grabbed him by the back of his tunic and lifted him off the ground with as much effort as it would take to lift a piece of paper.

"I don't know happened," Superboy explained, "He was eating and just ran off."

"Wolf?" Robin asked, just to be sure, "He left, while _eating_?_That _Wolf? The one who'd rather finish his food than leave a burning building?"

Superboy shrugged.

"That's so weird," Robin said, wiping some Wolf spit on his tunic, "He doesn't normally jump on me either."

"You smell different," Superboy said suddenly.

Robin had to take an unconscious step back. Did Superboy just say he _smelt _different. Yes, Superboy had super smelling and was half kryptonian, but that was just weird.  
"Well, I did just get here," he said, hoping nervous didn't come off as a smell either. "You know, the air in the city has a tendency to stick to clothes and stuff."

"Its not a city smell," Superboy said, looking deep in thought which usually didn't occur since he barely cared too much about anything. "It smells human."

The only person Robin could think of that he had touched was Kory and Tim. _Both _of which were hiding in the closet behind him. He just hoped Superboy's smelling wasn't good enough to distinguish the fact that both Kory and Tim, and a whole nother group of people, where even in the same hallway as him.

Robin plastered a big smile on his face. While his smiling and laughing was far from uncommon, the one he had on his face at the moment was definitely suspicious, Superboy thought to himself. And yet, he shrugged his shoulders, settling on the fact that this unnatural behavior really didn't matter. As long as Robin was safe and healthy, what he did really wasn't anything to be concerned about.

Doing a _very _high pitched whistle, he called Wolf as he made his way back down the hallway.

Robin dropped the phony smile, but not because he was in the clear. The whistle Superboy had just done seemed to make his ears pop. Everything was deaf for a moment, although the quiet seemed to mute everything anyway.

Sticking his pinky finger in his ear, he attempted to get some sound back to it. He opened the hallway door, revealing the shocked faces of everyone. Beast Boy looked near tears as he massaged his ears. Raven looked the least bit surprised, while Starfire looked beyond surprised. Cyborg's human eye twitched and Robin had to remind himself that Tim was still there.

"Here," Cyborg said, handing Tim to Robin, "That whistle woke him up."

Tim's eyes were open and he looked around, a bit confused at the scenery, and though Robin could see that Tim was clearly awake, Tim made no move to try and get down or even acknowledge anyone's presence. He just laid his head on Robin's shoulder and seemed to be quite content with not being forced to move himself.

"Whoever that was," Beast Boy said, shaking his head, "He has a killer whistle."

"That would be Superboy," Robin said, as he tiptoed down the hallway.

He had an idea of where to keep Raven and her friends, but it was on the other side of the mountain; something that was both good and bad. Unfortunately though, Wally would be finished eating by now and would probably come looking for him again. M'gann would probably worry and her and Artemis would probably set off to find him. Or worse yet, M'gann could try and find him telepathically. She'd realize he was hiding something or even pick up on Ravens own telepathic connection or whatever and find out about everything.

"So, Superboy's like... Superman's son, or something?" Beast Boy asked, his voice full of admiration and confusing. "Who's...like, his mom?"

"Superboy's a clone," Robin clarified, "Me and my friends rescued him a few months ago. He's technically about a year old, but built to be about 16."

"Who the heck has the means to clone Superman?" Cyborg asked.

"Well..." Robin started, lifting Tim higher on his shoulder.

How could he possibly explain Cadmas to them without _actually _explaining Cadmas to them? It was an interesting task.

"Stay pestuous for a moment," he said, taking a deep breath, "Superboy was a clone made by a group of scientists. Again, a while ago, a few friends and I snuck into the scientists building and kinda got trapped. Okay, so in reality, I was being nosy and snooped around a bit. But in the end, we figured out that some weird stuff was going on. Well, technically, it all started with a fire. Anyway, we were snooping around and ended up going down to the the bottom floor. To make a long story short, we found project Kr...er...Superboy, saved him, fought him, he saved us, then we escaped."

Tim wiggled out his arms, dropping to the ground gracefully. He hid between Robin's legs, not only making it hard for Robin to walk, but now clinging to his leg.

Robin turned around, the silence odd for the information he had just given.

"What does pestuous mean?" Beast Boy asked.

Robin refrained from dropping his mouth. He had just explained how Superboy came to be one of his friends. One of the good guys, and all Beast Boy could think to say was, 'what does pestuous mean'?

Whelming.

"Its a word I just made up." Robin said, a bit down heartened that his story went unnoticed. "It means calm down. Chill."

"Aren't you a little old to be making up words?" Raven asked, seemingly uninterested.

"Not really," he said, poking his tongue out at her, "And for your information, miss-poet-I-know-every-word-in-the-dictionary, I took it from the word tempestuous, meaning-"

"Unpeaceful or riled up. I know."

Silence.

"Anyway," he continued, ignoring her smirk, "By taking out the prefix, I change the meaning of the word completely, making the word its opposite."

"I doubt whoever created English didn't mean for the words to be so screwed up," Raven said, ignoring the genius that was obviously behind his meaning.

Ignoring her, again, he turned down a hallway. It wasn't the normal way he'd go, but with this mysterious disappearing act, he had to stay out the main hallways. Really though, if her really thought about it, this was kind of fun.

He loved being sneaky about stuff, and although a lot of people would be mad at him for keeping such a secret, the thrill was exhilarating. He was left home alone. Was skipping school for an entire month. Had a group of his own outlaws. And, he just adopted a baby brother. How cool was that?

The longer he could keep these secrets, the harder it would be, but the cooler as well. He just had to stay on his toes. Watch his back. Trust no one. Just like Batman. He had to be, the dark night. And...speaking of which, he could really use him.

Gotham was doing its own crazy secrets thing and Robin had no idea what to do about it. Sure, he'd seen Gotham at some of its worse times, but at the moment, it topped all those times. He should probably send Bruce a text or something. Probably best to call the Commissioner and Barbara too, just to make sure they were okay. With Alfred out of town, at least he didn't have to worry about him.

There was a thump and then laughter coming from Cyborg. Robin turned around just in time to see Beast Boy's face hit the ground. Cyborg erupted into deeper laughter and even Robin had trouble holding it in. Beast Boy stood up quickly, his cheeks reddening. Tim scrambled from behind Beast Boy, the obvious reason that had caused Beast Boy to trip, and scurried back between Robin's legs.

Beast Boy walked ahead, trying to get everyone moving again, but in his haste, ended up tripping again, almost falling on his face once more.

This time, Robin couldn't hold it in and burst into laughter right along side Cyborg. It wasn't until his laughing subsided that he realized he was the only one doing it.

"What?" he asked, wiping a small bit of moisture from his eye.

"Dude, what kind of laugh is that?" Beast Boy asked.

Starfire giggled, trying to cover her mouth with her hand. Raven raised an eyebrow and Cyborg looked ready to laugh again.

"Its my laugh," Robin said, crossing his arms.

He was well aware that his laugh wasn't exactly 'normal'. It was weird, and even he admitted that, but what exactly could he do about it? He actually liked his own laugh. It was... memorable. And, it was better than snorting or something like that. A bit of an echoing sound and a little high pitched he could deal with. Besides, his voice would change one day, and with that change would come a new laugh.

He just hoped the sound would still stick with people like it did. People at school, teachers, and even some of the older kids mocked him for it. Their impressions was just...sad. But he was flattered they had tried.

"Anyway," he said, changing the subject, "We're just about there. Technically its an extra bedroom, but then again, its really not. Its big enough for all of you and its fully stocked with food. So I wont have to sneak you anything."

Reaching the final door at the end of the hall, he typed in the security code. With a swish the door slid open revealing the large room. It was plainly painted gray and two king sized beds sat across from each other. A small kitchen was to the right and one of the three bathrooms was across from that. A window, barely big enough for Robin to crawl through, was above both beds, showing dark storm clouds approaching.

Even Robin's room wasn't this big. Not that he minded.

This room had everything they would need. Fully stocked and move in ready. The only thing he was concerned about was what to do with Tim. Realizing that he hadn't heard Tim say a word this whole time, he looked around himself, looking for the small boy... again.

He realized, with dismay, that he had lots him... yet again.

"Darn it." he whispered.

What was it with this kid?

He wasn't some kind of superhero, right? Tim didn't have any powers. So how on earth, did he just keep disappearing?

He knew he, himself, also had a bit of a tendency of, maybe sometimes disappearing (some days, more than other). But Tim was only 5. _5, _for crying out loud.

He looked over to the group. Raven had already made herself comfortable, sitting on one of the beds and reading a book she must have gotten off the bookshelf. Beast Boy was bouncing on the bed, alternating between falling on his back and jumping on his feet. Cyborg must have been in the bathroom, and Starfire was staring at him with her arms crossed and shaking her head.

She knew.

"Find him." she said simply.

With a nod of his head, like an obedient dog, he excused himself out of the room and made his way back down the hallway they had come from.

He had nearly made his way back to the closet he had stashed the others in when Superboy had showed up when he heard a high pitched squeal. He knew immediately that it was Tim.

* * *

AN: Again, sorry for the wait. I hope I haven't lost anyone. Please read and review.


	6. Lost and Found

Hola hola hola.

Hola, such a funny word and such weird spelling.

Quick story: okay so once, Bryce (my brother) and I were shopping in Macy's and he saw this Dora shirt that said 'Hola'. So he started laughing and when I asked him why, he pointed to the shirt and said it said 'Holla' Like Holler. You know, the whats up, kind of way. So I started laughing at him, but he thought I was laughing at the shirt. So we both looked like laughing idiots in Macy's.

The End.

Anyway. Sorry this took so long. Please, read on. Review many. And love...like, alot.

Anyway, this chapter, is dedicated to Alex Skywalker. Dude, YOU ROCK!

No, seriously.

Every time I see you reviewed, I tear up because I know you wrote like 3 paragraphs worth of awesome. YOU ROCK DUDE, YOU ROCK!

* * *

_-_YJ_-_

Instinct told Robin to run, but his steps faltered and he stumbled to a stop when he twisted too far to his right in his haste to turn down a hallway. He held his hand to his side, painfully remembering that he had been shot there.

He grit his teeth. His skinned leg was all but forgotten, save for the itchiness, but his side was a different story. It hadn't been a direct shot, but it still hurt like nobody's business.

He must of stood in the hallway for a good 5 minutes, his teeth clenched tight and his hand splayed across his side, just trying to get his breathing and pain under control.

The pain was still there, suddenly throbbing and nearly unbearable, but he moved down the hallway regardless. Tim had screamed, and from what he knew about Tim so far, he didn't scream or cry very often. Robin made an attempt to block out the pain and move a little faster, but he nearly doubled over from the effort. Bad idea. He made a mental note to himself, to take an ibuprofen when he could.

Finally, the throbbing lessened, and although the pain was still there (making itself known every second), he was able to move at a faster pace. He hadn't made it 10 feet before he realized that the scream had come from somewhere near the common room. Where everyone was, most likely.

His adrenaline pulsed, drowning out his throbbing side for a moment.

He skid down the last hallway, his boots sliding a little farther than was necessary.

He was right about one thing. Tim was in the common room, but it seemed the room was empty...save for Tim.

Sitting on the island, Tim was curled up in a ball, crying his eyes out, as Wolf tried to lick his feet. Wolf stood on his hind legs, trying to get closer to Tim, resulting in another one of Tim's high pitched squeals. Robin knew Wolf wouldn't hurt Tim, but Tim seemed thoroughly convinced otherwise. The tears came harder once Wolf successfully got his paws up on the counter. Tim was crying so hard he was hiccuping, and Robin was worried that he'd start hyperventilating soon.

Walking over, Robin grabbed Wolf by the scruff of his neck, shoving him away from Tim as hard as he could. Wolf had only slid about a half of foot, but he got the message and ducked his head, seemingly ashamed of himself. Crawling on his stomach, Wolf crept closer to Robin, attempting his way of apologizing for whatever he had done wrong.

Robin had seen this pose many times.

Wolf, being the closest thing he had ever had to a dog, fascinated Robin greatly and Robin took it upon himself to 'study' Wolf in his spare time. The animal wasn't average, making him doubly interesting. Even though Robin claimed he 'tested' Wolf's abilities, to normal eyes he just appeared to be playing with him. Which in reality, he really was doing.

He took it upon himself to play with Wolf, and since Superboy said it was an better alternative than him walking Wolf, he gave the okay. So when the others asked him why he rode around on Wolf's back, like he was a horse, his only response was 'I'm a boy'.

But playing fetch with light explosives was one of Robins favorite games. No matter how many times Robin showed Wolf the disk, Wolf always ran after it anyway, catching it in his mouth only for the disk to explode in a haze of light. Wolf always did some kind of flip or roll out of surprise making Robin laugh, but Robin was starting to think he did these tricks because he knew Robin thought they were funny.

And this was around the time that Robin started wondering about Wolf's intelligence.

Robin used Wolf as a pillow, while doing his homework. He tested all kinds of kitchen concoctions on Wolf, just curious of what Wolf would and wouldn't eat. So now, with Wolf's head hung in shame, Robin felt bad for him.

But once Tim saw that Wolf was coming closer, his eyes probably seeing Wolf as a stalking predator instead of a sad, sorry, Wolf-like dog, he screamed so loud Robin had to cover his ears.

Wolf flinched, his sensitive ears twitching madly, before he made a run for one of the hallways.

Tim tried to make a mad dash in the opposite direction, but as he tried to lower himself to the floor, he realized that he was much further from the floor than he realized. Robin watched a minute, as Tim hung over the side of the counter, still crying hysterically, and kicking his legs wildly.

Again, how had he gotten up there? There were no stools or chairs that could provide some type of stool for him.

Walking over, Robin picked Tim up from his dangling. Even in Robin's arms, Tim still clawed at Robin, seemingly trying to get on top of his head. Robin's entire vision went white for a moment, as Tim's reckless kicking happened to kick Robin directly in his side.

Robin held in his scream and instead, switched Tim to his other hip and walked into the kitchen. Setting Tim on one of the stools, he searched the cabinets for a bottle of ibuprofen.

He had just swallowed the pill, water-less, when he heard the sound of scrapping claws headed towards them. He cast a glance at Tim, whose head was cocked to the side as he stared at the nearest hallway.

Ignoring both Tim and Wolf's approaching sound, he searched the fridge for a snack for Tim. Pulling out a plate of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, he opened the middle, seeing a sloppy 'W' made of jelly. Wally wouldn't mind sharing _one _of his sandwiches. He had about four in there, and maybe three in the freezer.

He was cutting the sandwich in quarters, when he heard Tim scream again. Robin looked up, realizing that Wolf had come back, Superboy holding him by the scruff of his neck. Superboy cast a glance at the hysteric Tim, then looked up at Robin with a raised eyebrow.

Robin let out a nervous laugh.

_ Busted._

Superboy let go of Wolf, sending him back down the hallway, while Robin went to grab Tim. When the tears didn't stop, Robin got an idea. Walking over to Superboy, he held Tim out, so that he faced Conner, instead of himself.

Immediately, the tears stopped. Tim stared up and Conner blankly, his mouth agape and face blank.

"Whats wrong with him?"Conner asked, shuffling a little at the unwanted attention.

"I don't know," Robin said, shrugging, "Kids always react that way to you."

"Why?"

"I think it has something to do with your size. I mean, your huge."

Honestly, Conner was just muscle shaped like a human. It was startling for some people. Kids especially. Robin didn't believe Conner hadn't noticed before.

"Where'd he come from?"

Robin shrunk a bit at the question. Where _did _Tim come from? _Really_, he didn't know. He didn't even know what he should tell Conner. That he found Tim in an alleyway, next to his dead parents? Would Conner even believe that?

"He's my brother." he settled on.

No one but Wally knew his true identity, making Tim's identity safe. And even though this was technically a lie, it was the best one he could came up with on moments notice.

"He shouldn't be here." Conner said, "How did you even convince Batman to let you bring him. Isn't that dangerous?"

Another shuffle.

"Well," Robin started, "Batman's currently on hiatus."

"You mean he doesn't know."

"No." Robin objected, before thinking about the statement again, "Well, yes. He doesn't know. About anything. So you have to do me a big favor and help me keep it that way."

Robin smiled big for Conner and Conner recognized that same smile from the one he gave in the hallway. He made a mental note that this was Robin's lying face.

"How long are you planning on keeping this from him?" Conner asked, his arms folding.

"Forever," Robin responded, "Or at least until I figure out a better time."

"If Batman is on vacation or whatever, what did he expect you to do with the kid?"

"Tim. His name is Tim. And...well," Robin shuffled again, sitting Tim down on the floor. "Tim's whole existence is kind of a secret."

Conner growled, picking Robin up by his tunic and Tim up by his leg. He walked back towards the kitchen, dropping Tim on the couch and setting Robin up on the counter.

"Explain." he said sternly.

" I did!" Robin exclaimed, "I told you what happened."

"Your fMRI scans are different. I can tell your lying."

Robins mouth dropped open. Leave it to Conner to use x-ray vision to see his difference in blood flow an notice he was lying. Robin would need to practice some lying techniques in the future.

He wondered how much trouble he'd get in by lying again, but then pushed the thought aside. Letting _one _person on the inside of his little scheme wouldn't change things.

"Alright, I'll tell you. But you have to swear not to tell anyone else."

Conner raised an eyebrow and Robin figured that was as close as he was going to get.

He opened his mouth to speak, but looked towards the couch and noticed that Tim was peaking over. Tim ducked his head when he saw Robin was looking at him, but reappeared a second later later, doing the same thing.

Pressing a button on his holographic glove, Robin turned on the TV, where Tom and Jerry was just coming on. He heard shuffling and knew Tim had flipped around in his seat, to watch the cartoon.

"Okay," Robin said, his voice lowered, but confident Connors super ears would pick him up, "I found him yesterday. In an alleyway. His parents had been shot and he was all alone. What was I supposed to do?"

"Take him to the police." Conner said, simply. "_Someone _might be looking for him. Grandparents, siblings, aunts or uncles. You had no right to keep him."

Robin frowned at Conner. "Gotham police wouldn't help him. He'd be thrown in some orphanage and forgotten about."

"How would you know. You've been to a Gotham orphanage?"

"Just trust me, okay. They wouldn't of taken care of him."

"Someone could still be looking for him. You need to give him up, Robin. The longer you wait, the worse the situation will get."

Robin looked over to where Tim was watching TV. He hadn't really thought about giving Tim up. Subconsciously, he knew it was an option. Maybe even a better option, but he hadn't wanted it to be any _main _options. Just a backup. And now, with Conner staring him down, he felt as if it were his _only _option.

But he wasn't giving up. Not on Tim. Tim and him shared a secret. They shared a feeling. That feeling of watching your parents die (even if Tim wasn't quite clear on the concept). Tim needed him and as a hero, it was Robin's job to be there for him. Whether he had to go through Conner or not.

"I'll think about it." he said, but he knew he had to find away to get Conner off his case.

Conner was emotionless. He liked watching the TV when it was turned to static. He lost his temper a lot. Oddly enough, him and M'gann were drawn to each other. He hated monkeys, _and, _had a unhealthy love/hate relationship with Superman. But, Conner was a good big brother. Even if it was just a surrogate one.

Robin knew Conner would never hurt him. He knew Conner would do anything for him. Maybe, if he could get Conner to feel that way about Tim, Conner would be on his side about keeping Tim. It was worth a try, and better yet, he'd have a little more help on the situation.

The question now, though, was how to do it.

"Why are you looking like that?"

Robin blinked at Conner. "Like what?"

"Never mind."

Conner turned to leave, heading for t he couch. Still sitting on the counter, where Conner had left him, Robin watched as Conner slammed himself on the couch. The whole sofa shifted under his weight and Tim was thrown into the air, along with the cushions. Conner reacted quickly, catching Tim seconds before he flipped off the couch.

Robin shook his head as Tim refused to be put down, probably scared out of his mind. Operation 'Get-Connor-To-Love-Tim' was already a go, and he hadn't even needed to get off his butt.

This was going to be _so _easy.

"Robin," Conner called, "Your brother is filthy."

Squinting his eyes in confusion, Robin made his way to the common room. He hadn't made it 3 feet before the smell of peanut butter hit his nose. Already knowing what he was to expect, he looked back towards the kitchen and sure enough, the plate with Tim's peanut butter and jelly sandwich was gone.

Robin had been sitting on that counter, Conner, mind him, was right next to him. How the heck had Tim snuck _that?_

Shaking his head, he peaked around the couch. The sandwich plate, now full of bread crusts, was lying face down on the floor. And even though Tim was latched onto Conner's arm, Robin could see clear purple and brown stains on Tim's clothes. He even had some jelly in his hair and a smudge of peanut butter was on his back. Robin would _never _figure out how that was even possible.

He looked towards the entrance, seeing that he had left Tim's baby bag there. Tim was definitely going to need a bath.

He bit his inside cheek, wondering how he was going to do this. And then, he got an idea.

"Hey Conner?" he asked, his voice light, "Wanna do me a favor?"

"No," was his response.

"Please? You don't even know what it is."

"I know _you _don't want to do it, so why should I?"

"Because I have something you can give to Miss M."

Conner turned around slightly, and Robin knew he had him.

"I mean, I just want a _tiny _little favor. In exchange of course for something of value for M'gann."

"Exchange for what."

"This."

Robin held up the second bag of snicker doodles. He knew they would come in handy.

"Cookies?" Superboy asked.

"Not just any cookies. _The _cookies. She asked me for some the other day, but I had already given them to Wally. _You _can give them to her. I know she'll love it."

Conner raised his brow, for probably the hundredth time that day. "What do you want."

"Follow me." Robin said, waltzing over to grab the baby bag.

He led Conner down the hall and towards one of the main bathrooms. Conner followed, Tim still latched onto his arm like a sheet of sticky paper. And Conner treated him as if he weighed such. His arms swung as if Tim wasn't even there, but Robin noticed his gait was lighter, as he tried not to swing Tim off his arm.

This was going to be too easy.

Robin ran warm water in the tub, dumping almost half a bottom of shampoo in. He was careful not to bend over too much, his side still throbbing a bit. But much more numbly, now that the ibuprofen was kicking in.

Tim screamed joyously, kicking his legs frantically. Conner took the hint, grabbing Tim by his waist and setting him on the floor. Robin had to hold Tim back from trying to reach in the tub to grab at the bubbles that were forming.

"Why am I here?" Conner asked, although Robin had a feeling he already knew.

"Well, since I have to keep up appearances in front of the others, I cant be in here, giving Tim a bath. Wally's probably looking for me and if I know him, he'll make sure everyone is on the alert. That's where you come in."

"I don't know what to do." Conner said, defeated, and Robin had to give him credit for trying to empress M'gann.

"Just let him splash for a while. He'll play with the bubbles and do his little kid thing. Just take a rag and wash him up and wash his hair. Dry him off. Put his pajamas on. And bring him back to me. Easy."

"What if the water gets cold?"

"Don't worry about it Conner, he wont be in that long. The only thing you have to worry about is making sure he's clean. And try not to get any water or soap in his eyes."

Conner nodded, although he still seemed unsure. Robin figured he better leave before Conner changed his mind.

He backed out slowly, leaving the cookies on the counter and closing the door.

He breathed a deep breath of relief, glad one thing had gone right, before he heard a large splash. Swinging open the door, he saw that Tim had managed to jump in by himself. Conner was soaking wet and Tim's pull-up was laying, open, stuck on Connors shirt, directly over the 'S'.

Tim blew on some of the bubbles, sending them up into the air, floating back down and popping all over him, making him laugh.

Instead of being angry though, Conner folded up the pull-up and put it to the side. Then, surprisingly, he laughed. Actual, non-depressing-sounding, laughter. He grabbed a handful of bubbles and blew them into the air, letting them fall on Tim. Tim laughed harder, trying to blow some back at Conner, but couldn't seem to blow hard enough and just ended up spitting.

Robin closed the door back.

What was it with Tim? Was he some type of cure to depression and evilness? First with Ms. Eagle, and now with Conner.

Shaking his head, he made his way down the hallway. He knew he needed to be thinking about where Tim was going to sleep and what would happen if Tim ran out of clean clothes or pull-ups. But his mind was stuck on Tim's laughter, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of jealously that Conner got to play with him.

Even as he reached the living room, M'gann and Artemis both waving hello to him, his mind was still on Tim.

"Dude?" Wally asked, zipping over, "What movie? The Blob or I,Robot?"

"I, Blob," Robin said absently.

"Dude," Wally said, "While that would be an awesome movie mix, I don't own that one. But I think you mean: WATCH THEM BOTH! Great idea, man. I didn't even think of that. I'll go set up the DVD."

Wally was gone in a flash, Robin barely catching anything he said. He made his way to the kitchen, where M'gann and Artemis were making movie snacks. Robin pushed one of the endless bowls of popcorn to the side, leaning on his hands.

"What wrong, Robin?" M'gann asked, walking over and putting her arm around him.

"Nothing." Robin said, just catching Artemis's face. It said, quite clearly, that that was the exact answer that meant the exact opposite.

He just sighed and left to help Wally, who was tangled up in the red, white, and yellow chords. Wally vibrated profusely, his nose letting down a trickle of blood, as he tried to undo himself.

Wally's mouth dropped open and Robin could only assume it was because he hadn't teased Wally at all about getting tangled. Truth was, Robin just didn't feel like joking or laughing. Wally didn't say anything, but he made Robin sit, dead center of the couch, and pushed random junk in his hands, starting The Blob. Even as M'gann protested about waiting for Conner.

Halfway through the movie, when the kitchen dude had just gotten sucked down the kitchen drain, his foot not quite fitting and blood shooting all over the place, Conner walked in. Robin kept his cool, trying not to spin around all childlike and over excited.

But when Conner dropped Tim on his lap, his adrenaline pulsed a bit faster. He held his breath, pleasantly surprised that his side only felt numb and didn't explode in a haze of pain, like he thought it would.

Everything else seemed to stop for a moment. The movie was paused. Someone dropped their popcorn. Wally choked on his soda. Conner sat down, looking like nothing was going on. And Tim screamed at the bloody scene on the TV.

"Dude," Wally asked, now breathing, "Who is that?"

"Conner?" Robin whined, "I didn't mean bring him to me _directly. _Especially with everyone here!"

Conner shrugged, _nearly _showing emotion when Artemis and M'gann screamed. They seemed almost entranced by Tim, most likely by his cuteness. This was bad. His whole secret was out.

How was he supposed to explain this one?

* * *

A/N: So, what did you think? You guys are my home-skilly-biscuits, so you can tell me. I'm totally open to opinions and points and ideas and all kinds of different jibilu. REVIEW and read my other fics. Just finished Shadow Games. Working on a sequel.

REVIEW!

_ScarletDrake


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